Nevada has different types of snakes, some of which are poisonous.
If you want to go trekking or take a nature walk, you should be aware of the poisonous snakes that call Nevada home.
The Mojave Green Rattler, Panamint Rattlesnake, Mojave Desert Sidewinder, Speckled Rattlesnake, Great Basin Rattlesnake, and Western Diamondback Rattler are a few of the types of snakes in Nevada.
Nevada does not provide any protection for rattlesnakes or other species.
According to the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, the Sonoran Mountain Kingsnakes and the Rosy Boa are the only snake species in the state that are protected because of harmful commercial activities.
The state permits most huge, dangerous constrictor snakes. However, some counties and the city of Las Vegas may not allow them.
Henderson and Clark County are the localities that forbid these types of snakes in Nevada.
Obtaining a Wild Animal Permit is mandatory for residents of Las Vegas who wish to own or acquire any snake larger than eight feet in length or venomous.
Additionally, importing any of these snakes in Nevada requires a permit.
Let’s begin!
1. Great Basin Gopher Snake
The Great Basin gopher snake is starting our list of types of snakes in Nevada. It is most likely the one you will see in Nevada out of all the snakes.
It is found across Nevada and is one of several subspecies of gopher snakes found in North America.
Gopher snakes are all excellent bluffers. They give off the best impression of a rattlesnake possible by hissing loudly, coiling into an S shape, and rattling their tail against the ground.
Then they seal their mouth and swing at you. It’s more akin to a head-butt, then.
Like other subspecies, Great Basin gopher snakes are large and powerful. However, their typical length is about four and a half feet, which is shorter than other subspecies.
The longest measured was 5.75 feet long, or nearly six feet. The backs of these snakes in Nevada are speckled with dark brown or black dots connected by thin lines running along either side.
They have keeled scales and have a lighter brown base color. These harmless snakes are an excellent way to decrease rodent numbers and keep them in check.
2. Striped Whipsnake
The Striped Whipsnake is also a type of snake in Nevada. Although they usually stay smaller, they can grow to six feet long.
The term “striped whipsnake” comes from their long, slender bodies and scale markings that resemble a braided whip.
They are often gray, brown, or black, with solid, dark-colored stripes on each side of their back that are either white or cream.
During the day, these types of snakes in Nevada are active predators. Aside from seeking refuge during the warmest hours of the day, striped whipsnakes hunt anything from mice and rats to rattlesnakes.
These innocuous, swift snakes eat the poisonous snakes whose rattles send shivers down your spine.
The best habitats for striped whip snakes are flat desert regions like Nevada, sagebrush, and canyons. It is also occasionally found next to streams and in the mountains.
3. Western Yellow-Bellied Racer
Whipsnakes and Western yellow-bellied racers are closely related species formerly grouped in the Coluber genus.
In northern Nevada, these types of snakes are frequently seen cruising the terrain in search of food.
Rats, mice, little rabbits, frogs, toads, turtles, lizards, and even snakes are among the many foods racers eat. To get at the bird eggs, a few of them scale trees.
Due to the blotches on their backs, young western yellow-bellied racers might be mistaken for other snake species, such as kingsnakes.
As they become older, though, they lose the pattern and have solid colors on top, like blue, black, green, or brown, with a yellow, white, or light tan belly.
Although they have a maximum length of five feet, the record is slightly longer at six feet (73 inches).
4. Ground Snake
This adorable, small, harmless snake exists throughout Nevada’s Western and Southern regions.
Ground snakes can have a variety of patterns, such as solid colors, stripes, or bands of black, brown, orange, or red in the same area.
Its smooth scales allow it to reach an adult size of only approximately 19 inches.
These snakes in Nevada are most frequently found at night at the sides of roadways or in drainage ditches, where they search for invertebrates such as centipedes, spiders, and scorpions.
In the Mojave Desert, a Western Ground Snake slithers over a rock and typically measures 8 inches long.
5. Northern Rubber Boa
You might never encounter a Northern Rubber Boa snake unless you visit the Tahoe area and travel to northern Nevada, where they are exclusively found.
Because they are small and nocturnal, spending most of their time underground might be difficult to see.
These snakes, typically no more than two feet long, have loose, voluminous skin and small scales that give them a rubber-like sheen.
They have a lighter belly color that can range from tan to dark brown, yellow, orange, and olive green.
One of the kinds of snakes you will ever meet in Nevada is the rubber boa, so educational programs frequently use them as ambassador animals to assist people in overcoming their fear of snakes.
Regretfully, their compliant disposition makes them susceptible to being collected for the pet trade. Kidnapping one from the wild is unnecessary, as breeders readily provide them.
These types of snakes in Nevada consume a wide range of juvenile mammals, including mice, voles, and shrews.
When they come across a litter of nestlings, they even attempt to devour them all by using their tails to ward off the mother. In America, the boa snake
6. Coachwhip
Coachwhips aggressively hunt throughout the day and move as quickly as racers. Because of their behavior, people are terrified of coachwhips (and coachwhips in general).
With keen eyesight, they locate their food by cruising over the grass and scrub brush, frequently raising their heads to get a better look.
Southwest Nevada is home to several red coachwhips, which consume various foods such as eggs, birds, frogs, rats, mice, and snakes.
These types of snakes in Nevada can reach a length of seven feet. However, most are much shorter.
They have huge eyes and are long and slender. These snakes, called “red racers,” can be red, rusty red, olive brown, or orange-tan.
7. Western Patchnose Snake
The elevated scale on the snout of the western patch nose gives it its name rather than its colorful patch.
Its elevated scale helps it burrow in loose sandy soil and gravel for its prey, which consists mostly of grasshoppers, small mammals, lizards, and reptile eggs.
The western patch-nosed is a native of Baja, California, Mexico, and the southwest region of the United States. It is most prevalent in southwestern Nevada.
These types of snakes in Nevada are innocuous and range in length from two to four feet. Their lateral stripes are either dark brown or black and yellowish-brown.
8. Rattlesnake Panamint
The tiny range of this rattlesnake is in southern Nevada and southeast California.
Although they typically grow to two to three feet, Panamint rattlesnakes can reach up to four and a half feet.
They might have tan, straw, gray, or brown bases with darker splotches running the length of their backs.
It ambushes small mammals, birds, and lizards like other rattlesnakes do.
These snakes in Nevada blend in like a soldier in a ghillie suit, just like their larger cousins.
It’s easier than you might think to avoid bites, so stay on the pathways so you can see where you’re going!
9. Sidewinder
Although most sidewinder adults are only two and a half times longer than average rattlesnakes, they can nonetheless have a menacing appearance.
Because of their unusual sideways motion instead of moving forward straight, they are known as sidewinders.
Because of their sidewinding action, they can move swiftly over the scorching desert sands where they live, only coming into contact with one or two coils on the ground at a time.
Sidewinders blend in perfectly with their surroundings. They are usually light tan or brown with darker brown or cream markings.
But even though they seem to go very well with the desert landscape of southern Nevada, rattles are easily recognized.
Like other types of snakes in Nevada, sidewinders will warn you off with a loud rattle.
When these snakes are young, they feed on lizards, frequently luring their prey with their tails.
When sidewinders such as desert-dwelling rodents, birds, and snakes become adult prey, they stop employing the caudal (tail) lure.
10. Mojave Rattlesnake
There appears to be a wide variety of rattlesnakes for you to observe in southern Nevada! Mojave Rattlesnakes are near Henderson, Nevada, and along the California border.
Their other term, Mojave green, comes from the fact that they are different tones of brown, frequently with a hint of green.
They feature broad, dark stripes behind their eyes outlined in white or cream, uneven bands at their tails, and darker, roughly oval-shaped saddle marks outlined in black.
These types of snakes in Nevada bites are extremely hazardous because of their highly strong venom, which includes the neurotoxic Mojave toxin.
Scientists are attempting to determine whether there is a pattern to which populations of Mojave rattlesnakes are neurotoxic and which are not. Nevertheless, not all of them have it.
It’s not because Mojave rattlesnakes are malicious, despite their unfavorable image. Rattlesnakes are not aggressive; they are nearly as tense and anxious as western diamondbacks.
11. Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
Only in Nevada’s southeast, where the rocky ledges and hills provide excellent cover, can one find the southwestern speckled rattlesnake.
Depending on their habitat, Southwestern speckled rattlesnakes exhibit various color and pattern variations.
They might have a base color of gray, pink, brown, or white with black and white specks. If any marks are present, they are often speckly and poorly defined.
Although they typically reach a maximum length of three feet, four-footers are not unheard of.
Because they are opportunistic, these snakes in Nevada have even been observed congregating around bird baths, where they prey on visiting birds.
They usually take birds, lizards, mice, rats, and other small mammals.
The speckled rattlesnake’s colors enable it to blend in with the rocks, but its white body color should be easily visible when it’s out hunting.
12. Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
In Nevada, western diamondback rattlesnakes are also on our list of types of snakes and are uncommon. They are limited to the area around Lake Mojave in the state’s far south.
These snakes have very pale gray or tan bodies with diamond-shaped markings that extend down to the black and white bands that adorn the tail. The markings are dark brown, dark gray, and white.
They typically only grow to be four feet long, like the majority of rattlesnakes. But the longest they will likely grow is closer to seven feet!
Thankfully, despite their unfavorable image, these snakes in Nevada are not violent. No, the exact opposite is true. They assume that everything is against them—including that butterfly.
These snakes rattle at the slightest hint of danger because they are incredibly tense. Therefore, the western diamondback will gladly move aside if you give it time.
Yellow-bellied racers are characterized by large eyes, a big head with a thin neck, and a long, narrow tail.
They are usually olive green, brown, or blue-gray, with smooth scales. Their name should have given it away, yet they typically have an off-white or yellow underside.
They are home in various habitats, including plain forests, foothills, and damp and arid sierras.
These types of snakes in Nevada consume insects, lizards, amphibians, other snakes, birds, eggs, and reptiles.
Despite not being contractors, they will coil and pin their victims, allowing them to be swallowed whole.
13. Great Basin Rattlesnake
Lastly, on our list of types of snakes in Nevada is the Great Basin Rattlesnake.
It lives in the northern three-quarters of the state in arid rocky outcrops and scrub bush, where it feeds on all kinds of rodents.
Beautiful oval-shaped markings with black and white outline over a lighter base color are present on this rattlesnake. Its tail has more brown and tan bands than black and white ones.
With an average length of only three feet, this snake is as deadly as other snakes in Nevada.
The Great Basin Rattlesnake has dark brown patterns on a sand-colored, light brown, or tan body.
Being alert is your greatest defense because they are typically spotted lounging near hiking.
