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Project Noah Nature School
Carphophis vermis
A small, nonvenomous two-toned snake that lives in wooded areas or rocky hillsides. Dorsal color is purplish brown to black. Ventral side is salmon pink with color extending up the sides. The head is flattened to aid in burrowing.
Western worm snakes spend most of their time in burrows under rocks or logs or in damp soil. They live on rocky, wooded or open hillsides, or along the edge of forest where flat rock or logs provide suitable shelters.
This harmless snake has never been known to bite.
Spotted on May 20, 2012
Submitted on May 20, 2012
4 Comments
very interesting - never heard of these before.
Worm snakes have always been a favorite of mine, going all the way back to childhood. I remember bringing some home - only keeping them for a day to observe them - and my dad trying to tell me they were copperheads. I had snake books and proved him wrong! :-)
How big (length & diameter) was this specimen?
The first time I ever heard of one of these was when I worked at a dorm at the University of North Texas as a night desk clerk. Someone called me to come investigate a snake on the girls' wing because they knew I wasn't afraid of snakes. This earth-worm looking snake was doing a side-winding maneuver on the carpet in the hallway and I wasn't sure what it was - had never seen one or heard of anything like it before. Being an international campus, I thought it might have hitched a ride in someone's luggage and could be venomous - I had no idea it was indigenous.
I put it in a jar and saw that it had eye spots and that it had a tiny forked tongue that came out and that it couldn't possibly open its mouth wide enough to inflict a bite on a person. I found its ID in an Audobon Guide book and released it. From what I read back then (over 20 years ago), they live 6 ft. under ground.
The specimen I found was completely pink and had eye spots, not eyes such as yours - so now I'm wondering if it was either a juvenile or a completely different species that I had found. It was truly unique to see it.