Rainbow Snake Farancia erytrogramma

Family: Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes

Description 35-66" (89-167.6 cm). Cylindrical-bodied, glossy black or blue-black snake with 3 narrow red stripes running length of body. Yellow or reddish-yellow stripe on sides along margins of belly scales. Underside red, with a double row of black spots, one pair on each belly scale. Tail short and tipped with a sharp spine. Males smaller than females. Scales smooth, in 19 rows. Anal plate usually divided.

Subspecies Common Rainbow (F. e. erytrogramma), belly predominantly red; s. Maryland south to c. Florida, west to Mississippi River.
Southern Florida (F. e. seminola), belly scales and several rows of adjacent scales with heavy black pigment; vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, Florida.

Breeding In July, female lays a clutch of 20-52 eggs, each about 1 1/2" (38 mm) long, in a cavity in sandy soil.

Habitat Areas of loose sandy soil near water; streams, rivers, cypress swamps, spring runs, and marshland.

Range Coastal plain, s. Maryland south to c. Florida and west to Mississippi River.

Discussion Rarely seen. Burrows in sandy soil or under wet debris and mats of vegetation along water's edge. Active at night but occasionally may be seen during the day foraging for eels, its principal prey. Hatchlings eat salamanders and tadpoles. Folk tales have it that the "stinging snake," "hoop snake," or "thunderbolt," bites its tail, rolls like a hoop, and stings a victim to death with the spine on the tail tip. In fact, the Rainbow Snake is usually docile and the spine is harmless.