My first snake: the DeKay's snake

I can still remember turning the big flagstone that was out by the day lily bed and seeing my very first snake.

I was probably 6 or 7 and had already turned a lot of stones in my short lifetime. I found toads and stag beetles and star-nosed moles - enough things so that I spent a goodly amount of time flipping rocks and debris and marveling at the creatures that called such places home.

But a snake? And in my own backyard at that. Even when the little snake inflated itself and began an almost inaudible hissing, my parents declared it harmless and left the snake and me to our own devices.

That was my introduction to the species then called the DeKay's snake and now known as the northern brown snake, Storeria dekayi dekayi. Notice the species name, dekayi, is spelled with a "k" and not a "c." It is named for early New York naturalist, James Edward DeKay, not for any lack of serpentine structural integrity.

Although a gigantic specimen of just over 19 inches has been documented, most northern brown snakes are adult at 10 to 12 inches. The dietary preference is earthworms but an occasional cutworm or other insect may be accepted. This tiny snake, a relative of the larger garter and water snakes, gives birth to live young. Literature proclaims a litter may number from 3 to 31, but 5 to 12 seems the norm.

The northern brown snake is a creature of the leaf litter and mulch. Black facial markings are the norm on this species.

Author, photographer, and columnist Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For a list of their current titles, please visit their page in our bookstore.