SMOOTH EARTH SNAKE Virginia valeriae Baird & Girard, 1853  

STATUS:  Very rare

DOCUMENTED COUNTIES:  Hood, Johnson, and Tarrant

HABITAT:  Western Cross Timbers, Fort Worth Prairie, and Trinity River Bottoms

SUBSPECIES:  Western Smooth Earth Snake (V. v. elegans Kennicott, 1859)

COMMENTS:  The western smooth earth snake is one of the rarest snakes of the Metroplex.