A small reddish brown snake with four rows of black (often indistinct) blotches down its back, and a black head. The belly is pink or red with a row of black dots along each side. Kirtland's Snake is an endangered species of snake of the family Colubridae in North America. When alarmed it flattens its entire body to a remarkable thinness and becomes rigid.
Ten Facts about Kirtland's Snake
- Adults reach a length of 12-18 inches (30-46 cm).
- This species occurs in west and central Ohio, most of Indiana, southern Michigan, north-central Kentucky, and north-eastern and central Illinois; they have also been recorded in western.
- Kirtland's Snakes are usually found in damp habitats, often in the vicinity of streams, ditches, marshes, or ponds, but they are not truly aquatic.
- Earthworms are the preferred food for this species, although slugs and perhaps terrestrial leeches are also eaten.
- They are vulnerable to hawks and owls, larger mammalian predators (foxes, raccoons, skunks, cats), and (inevitably) automobiles and unappreciative humans.
- When threatened (especially when suddenly exposed), a Kirtland's Snake can flatten its body to a remarkable degree and remain stiff and immobile.
- Mating has been observed in May under natural conditions.
- Females give birth to their young in late summer or early autumn (usually in August or September); litter size ranges from 4 to 15.
- They probably reach sexual maturity within two years, with at least some females mating during their second spring after birth.
- The little snakes grow rapidly, sometimes nearly doubling their lengths in the first full year.
