Minnesota is home to 17 species of snakes, some of which are nonvenomous and some are venomous.
Though rare in the North Star State, the two poisonous species should not cause undue concern.
Notwithstanding their variations, all of these types of snakes in Minnesota support the fragile habitats that they live in, exhibiting a unique range of captivating traits and behaviors.
Our list should help you learn about the various types of snakes in Minnesota, whether you’re looking for a new pet or need a helping guide for the next time you’re surveying the state’s varied landscape.
1. Smooth Green Snake
The brilliant green Smooth Green Snake is a type of snake that lives in meadows and marshes in Minnesota.
It’s a tiny snake that usually grows to be between 14 and 20 inches long. This species is smooth-scaled and slender.Â
The Smooth Green Snake’s vivid green coloring helps it blend in with its grassland surroundings.
These types of snakes in Minnesota have big eyes and short heads. The main food source for smooth green snakes is a variety of insects and spiders.
They are renowned for their swift and nimble movements, which enable them to catch their prey effectively.
These snakes are mostly calm and non-aggressive around people or possible predators. If they feel threatened, they could try to flee or flatten their bodies to look bigger.
Another characteristic of smooth green snakes is tail autotomy, the capacity of these snakes to lose their tails when seized.
2. Northern Watersnake
Northern water snakes prefer slow-moving or standing water in ponds, lakes, vernal pools, marshes, and leisurely-flowing rivers and streams.
Most typically, they are observed lounging on logs or rocks in or close to bodies of water.
During the day, these types of snakes in Minnesota search at the water’s edge and in shallow water, where they mostly consume fish and amphibians.
They seize their meal and devour it fast while it’s still alive! Their saliva has a weak anticoagulant that can make bites bleed, exacerbating the injury.
Water snakes rely on these vital defense systems to fend off predators like foxes, opossums, snapping turtles, raccoons, and birds of prey.
3. Eastern Yellowbelly Racer Snake
When they get older, yellow-bellied racers lose their pattern. They are mostly found in southeast Minnesota. As these types of snakes in Minnesota age, their color changes.
Therefore, a tan or cream yellowbelly racer with brown markings on a slender body and short stature is likely a young eastern yellowbelly racer.
When fully grown, Eastern Yellowbelly Racers have a light cream or tan belly and a solid gray-green color.
Although not poisonous, these snakes may bite if you try to handle or frighten them.
As long as you keep your distance, they are quite swift and are more likely to slip away from people than bite them.
4. Plain Hog-Nosed Snake
A species of great interest is the Plains Hog-Nosed Snake. It exhibits behavior that is comparable to that of cobras.
Because it doesn’t bite very often, it gives off an illusion of more threat as it puffs out its sides and hisses.
These types of snakes in Minnesota will pretend to be dead to scare off possible predators. If that doesn’t work, the state has designated it a Special Concern species.
5. DeKays Brown Snake
Small brown, nonvenomous snakes known as DeKay’s brown snakes, named for American biologist James Ellsworth De Kay, can be found in various environments in southern Minnesota.
They live in urban areas, savannas, prairies, and woodlands.
These types of snakes in Minnesota are also excellent pets. Their main food sources are earthworms, snails, and slugs.
6. Prairie Ring-Necked Snake
The northern ring-necked snake and the prairie ring-necked snake, the second of the two ring-necked subspecies, have identical appearances and eat the same foods: lizards, slugs, snails, and earthworms.
The prairie ring-necked snake is unique because it exclusively inhabits the southeastern part of Minnesota.
7. Bullsnake
Large snakes like the bullsnake are common in regions with significant rodent populations. It is one of Minnesota’s largest types of snakes, reaching a maximum length of 6 feet.
This species has smooth scales and a sturdy body. The Bullsnake’s coloring can vary.
However, it typically has a yellow or light brown background with black or dark brown spots. These types of snakes in Minnesota have triangular-shaped heads.
Grasslands, prairies, and agricultural areas are the typical habitats of bullsnakes, as these places are rich in rodent prey.
Although they are found all over Minnesota, the central and western regions are where they are most prevalent.
These snakes, renowned for their capacity to adapt to various environments, are frequently observed lounging in the sun or lurking behind logs or rocks.
They may hibernate in the winter and are active throughout the warmer months.
Being constrictors, bullsnakes immobilize their prey with their strong bodies. They mostly eat rodents, such as mice and rats, but they also eat eggs, birds, and other small mammals.
Generally calm, these snakes may frequently attempt to hide or flee from people or other possible predators. They may flatten their bodies to seem larger or hiss loudly when attacked.
Bullsnakes are good for agricultural areas and are crucial in managing rodent populations.
8. Red-sided Garter Snake
The red-sided garter snake is also on our list of snake types in Minnesota. Like other garter snakes, it inhabits a variety of habitats.Â
Look for them in farms, wetlands, woodlands, shrublands, and rocky places in western Minnesota. They adore eating leeches, frogs, and earthworms! OMG!
Some places don’t have enough females to support all the males once they emerge from hibernation.
During these instances, “mating frenzies” occur, leading to the discovery of several snakes in a group.
Red-sided Garter Snakes must hibernate below the frost line to survive the winter. Depending on the area where they are situated, finding appropriate places might be challenging.
Therefore, hundreds or thousands of snakes can find refuge in the few suitable hibernation dens!
9. Ring- Necked Snake
Throughout the nation, one of the most prevalent types of snakes in Minnesota is the ringneck snake. They typically reside in Minnesota along the Wisconsin border.
Ringneck snakes can be found from the Canadian to the Iowan border. They never reside farther than 50 miles into Minnesota, though, and most sightings are in counties that border Wisconsin or Lake Superior.
The three rings that round these snakes’ necks can always be recognized by their heads. Red, tan, or yellow rings are possible; they frequently match the color of the belly.
Although they make for fascinating visuals, it’s possible that you won’t ever encounter a ringneck snake.
They prefer grassy places near woodlands, brush piles, and wooded locations; nevertheless, they are nocturnal and prefer to burrow into the earth or dwell underground whenever possible.
Because ringneck snakes are excellent at hiding, you can be in their vicinity without ever realizing it.
10. Brown Snake
The brown snake is a tame and adaptable creature that thrives in various settings. That aspect has been a major reason for its widespread diffusion in the US.
It is a diurnal reptile that prefers to hide away and be by itself. It consumes many foods, including frogs, insects, and earthworms. Although it isn’t poisonous, it will protect itself if necessary.
11. Lines Snake
Only one place in the state’s extreme southwest has the Lined Snake been observed. As a result, Minnesota has designated it a species of Special Concern.Â
It favors meadows and prairies, where earthworms are the main food source. As one might imagine, these types of snakes in Minnesota are most active at night and after rain, when it is easier for them to get their prey.
12. Eastern Milk Snake
Given that they are frequently seen in barns, the Eastern Milksnake got its unusual name from an old superstition that associated them with milking cows! This is untrue.
Instead, the abundance of mice, some of their preferred prey, is probably why they are found inside barns.
Eastern Milk Snakes are members of the kingsnake family and can be found in southern Minnesota in various habitats, fields, forests, agricultural regions, and rocky outcrops.
Being semi-secretive, these stunning snakes spend most of their time underground. Look beneath stones, logs, planks, and other trash; you could discover one.
Mice and shrews are among the tiny mammals the Eastern Milksnake prefers to eat.
On the other hand, they will also eat a variety of prey, such as fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, fish eggs, earthworms, snails, insects, and carrion.
13. Western Fox Snake
Western fox snakes live in a variety of environments in Minnesota. They can be found in woodlands close to water, marshes, grasslands, and agricultural regions.Â
They are frequently discovered in or around barns and abandoned buildings since plenty of hiding places and rodents exist. Being fairly daring snakes, they frequently wander close to people or other animals.
The light-shaded area shows the range of Western fox snakes, and the dark-shaded area represents the range of snakes in Minnesota.
Despite the Mississippi River’s historical boundaries, people from both sides live there.
Although they prefer to eat rodents, birds, and bird eggs, these rat snakes will also eat frogs. Being constrictors, they suffocate larger prey with their coils before eating it.
Smaller prey, however, can be swallowed whole without experiencing restriction.
14. Timber Rattlesnake
Crotalus, often known as the timber rattlesnake, is found in Iowa. Despite being extremely poisonous, timber rattlesnakes are uncommon in Minnesota.
It should not be overlooked that rattlesnakes are restricted to the southeast counties of Minnesota that border Wisconsin and Iowa.
Fillmore, Houston, Winona, and Olmstead counties are among them. There have been no reports of timber rattlesnake sightings in the great part of the state.
If you spot a timber rattlesnake in the wild, it will look spectacular and scary. Their bodies are heavy and broad, not as lengthy as you might assume.
Their primary hues are usually yellow, gray, or extremely dark, nearly black. A characteristic cross pattern will run the length of their bodies.
Because timber snakes are rattlesnakes, they will erupt in a rattle and shake their tails to warn of an approaching predator. They could even puff up or elevate their heads to show they are not fearful.
Although they are rarely aggressive, timber rattlesnakes have a very high venom content, and their bites can be lethal in some situations.
As such, you should always exercise caution if you encounter one of these types of snakes in Minnesota.
Never try to remove the venom from a timber rattlesnake bite using heat or ice. Instead, go to a hospital with antivenom as soon as feasible.
15. Western Massasauga Rattlesnake
Northern Missouri is home to a juvenile western Massasauga rattlesnake or Sistrurus. The colors and patterns of massasaugas range from tan to gray to brown, with patches of dark brown or black.
One of Minnesota’s poisonous types of snakes is the Massasauga rattlesnake, found in the state’s southeast.
Note that sightings have been extremely infrequent, and no confirmed breeding colonies exist in the state.
The massasauga rattlesnake is a small species that typically grows to a maximum length of two feet. It prefers a damp environment.
Therefore, it tends to congregate among marshlands and the edges of lakes and ponds. They can occasionally be seen in prairie or wet grassland regions.
The Massasauga snake dislikes humans and hides in the dense grass and darkness. Except when you tread on one by accident or startle one, they will run away from humans rather than attack. It might then attack out of fear.
16. Common Garter Snake
In Minnesota, grasslands and prairies near freshwater sources are nearly always home to plains garter snakes.
They have a sizable population and do well in environments that humans have altered. They may be seen near vacant lands, rubbish piles, and abandoned structures.
Of all the snake species, this one is thought to be the most tolerant of cold! On warmer winter days, they will even emerge from their hibernation.
The main food sources for Plains Garter Snakes are tiny frogs, snails, and earthworms.
Nevertheless, they have also been seen feeding small mammals and birds, such as bank swallows and eastern meadowlarks.
17. Western Rat Snake
Large and tree-dwelling, the western rat snake is the last on our blog types of snakes in Minnesota.
A black dorsal flecked with lighter hues makes up their coloring. There are occasionally mid-dorsal spots on them.
The most distinguishing characteristic is the white chin. Contrary to their name, western rat snakes inhabit the state’s southeast region, where oak woodlands are found.
Their main sources of food are birds and rodents.
