‹ Compare two snakes
Eastern Massasauga vs Eastern Milksnake
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erinsuzanne, no rights reserved
Eastern Massasauga
Sistrurus catenatus
Venomous(c) Daniel J. Layton, some rights reserved (CC BY)
Eastern Milksnake
Lampropeltis triangulum
Non-venomousThe quick way to tell
Look at the tail and eyes. The massasauga has a rattle and vertical pupils. The milksnake has a tapering tail and round pupils.
Tail ★ This settles it
Small, with a tiny buzzy rattle.
Tapers evenly; no rattle - but it vibrates the tip.
Head
Small triangular head with nine large plates on top and a dark stripe through the eye.
Small head, often with a pale Y or V mark on the back of it.
Pattern
Large dark brown squarish blotches down a gray back, smaller spots along the sides.
Reddish-brown saddles edged in black on gray; checkerboard belly.
Eyes
Vertical slit pupil; heat-sensing pit between eye and nostril.
Round pupil, small dark eye; no heat-sensing pit.
Pits
A deep heat-sensing pit on each side of the face, between the eye and the nostril.
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
What it does
Freezes and stays still; rarely rattles or strikes.
Vibrates its tail and musks; often found in basements and walls.
Where it lives
Great Lakes region and upper Midwest: western New York, western Pennsylvania and Ontario west through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin to eastern Iowa (now gone from Missouri and Minnesota).
Northeast and Midwest: Maine and Ontario west to Minnesota and Iowa, south through the Appalachians to northern Georgia and Alabama, and down the Mississippi valley to Missouri, northern Arkansas and eastern Kansas.