Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)

Legal status in United States: None Legal status in Wisconsin: Endangered Length: 15-24 inches

For information on Wisconsin's snakes including an identification key and more, order your copy of Snakes of Wisconsin.

At a quick glance this water snake may be mistaken for a gartersnake. However, upon closer examination you will notice that this gray or brown colored snake has a peach or light yellow stripe down its body on the first two scale rows and two ventral stripes that are prominent toward the neck. This snake is none other than the queen snake, though it is commonly known by many other names. Some examples include the yellow-bellied snake, leather snake, and crayfish snake. In juveniles and young adult snakes, there are three additional dark stripes along the top of the back and on scale rows five and six on each side. This will create the appearance of a seven-striped snake, resulting in the species’ scientific name, Regina septemvittata (queen with seven stripes). In older adults the stripes tend to fade and become unnoticeable. The average length of this snake is 15-24 inches with the female often being larger than the male.

Queen snakes have quite specific habitat requirements. They require clear spring-fed streams with moderate to fast currents and rocky bottoms. Queen snakes are rarely found far from their water habitat. One of the reasons is that their main food source, freshly molted crayfish, live in these waters under the rocks.

The queen snake's range extends from western New York to southeastern Wisconsin and south to Alabama. In Wisconsin this snake has reached the northwestern limit of its range, and it is found in just a few southeastern counties. These counties are Washington, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth and Racine.

Freshly molted crayfish will provide up to and may even exceed 93% of the queen snake's diet. Other sources of food include frogs, tadpoles, newts, minnows, snails, and fairy shrimp. The queen snake does not find its food by sight or heat detection as one might expect, but by smell.

If the proper rock is overturned, either in the water or very close to it, one or more queen snakes may be found along with the more common northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon. Unlike most water snakes the queen snake does not readily bite when captured and calms down rather quickly.

The queen is active from May to September, and hibernates the other seven months of the year. The hibernation site, called a "hibernaculum", is near a stream and may be shared by many snakes. Ironically, during hibernation the queen snake's main food source, crayfish, becomes a predator, particularly of the young snakes. Other predators of the queen snake include mice, raccoons, larger fish, and great blue herons.

Female queen snakes usually reach maturity in three years while the males commonly mature in two. Some females may breed in the fall of their second year; however, they will not reproduce until the third year. Breeding may take place during the fall or spring. If breeding took place during the fall, embryo development is apparently suspended until the spring, when the female will be able to meet the energy requirements necessary for this activity. Queen snakes are ovoviviparous, the eggs "hatching" in the female, and the young being born live. Five to twenty-three young are born in August or early September with the average being thirteen. The time for an individual birth is from 1.5 - 2.5 minutes. Time between individual births is 4 minutes to 1 hour, with the average time being 11 minutes. At birth queen snakes will be approximately 6 in. (160mm) long and weigh .1 oz. (3g). After the baby queen snake is born it can readily move and swim. Due to its rapid development while utilizing yolk stores, the young snake will shed its skin twice in less than a week. Like all snakes, baby queen snakes are on their own and fend for themselves after they hatch.

Queen snakes are not endangered or threatened on the federal level; however, within the state of Wisconsin the queen snake is endangered.

You can help the queen snake by supporting the Bureau of Endangered Resources and conservation organizations that purchase and manage land for the protection of rare habitats and their inhabitants. If we hope to keep this unique member of the reptile community in Wisconsin we must set aside and manage enough habitat so that the queen snake can recover and persist.

In addition, you can help by letting us know where and when you see this and other reptiles and amphibians (known collectively as herptiles). The Wisconsin Herptile Atlas Project [exit DNR], run by the Milwaukee Museum [exit DNR] and supported by the Bureau of Endangered Resources, is attempting to document the presence of all herptiles statewide to help give us a current picture of species distribution and status. If you are interested in becoming involved, please write to one of the following addresses.

Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
Bureau of Endangered Resources
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53703

or

The Milwaukee Museum [exit DNR]
800 W. Wells St.
Milwaukee, WI 53233

Excerpt from THE ENDANGERED AND THREATENED VERTEBRATE SPECIES OF WISCONSIN

Learn more about this publication...

Status: State Endangered (1972).

Occurrence: Found in just a few southeastern counties in Wisconsin, the northwestern limit of their range in the United States.

Aid to ID: Slender, medium-sized (15-24 inch) water snake. Dorsal coloration olive brown to dark gray. Belly dirty white or yellowish. Yellow, cream or peach stripes on first and second rows of dorsal scales. Two distinct brown parallel stripes, several inches long, occur on the front quarter of the snake's belly. At a quick glance, this species may resemble a pale colored gartersnake.

Habitat: Prefer clear, spring-fed streams in southern lowland hardwood forests and shrub carr communities with moderate-to-fast current, rocky bottoms, a minimum water temperature of 50^oF (18^oC) during active season and an abundant supply of crayfish. They prefer areas with at least some open canopy for basking.

Food Habits: Feed almost exclusively on newly molted crayfish, but may also eat frogs, tadpoles, newts, minnows, snails and fairy shrimp.

Natural History:

Active: May to September. Diurnal. Rarely found far from water.
Hibernation: Near streams, in a communal hibernator.
Reproduction: Females mature in third year, males in second. Breed spring and fall. Ovoviviparous; give birth to 5 to 23 (avg. 13) young between August and early September.

Management Considerations: Rarity in Wisconsin largely due to loss of habitat resulting from urban expansion in southeast corner of state. Sedimentation affects both habitat quality and food availability. This species is known to communally hibernate in old bridge abutments, fractured dams, and in some deep rip-rap. Before any actions are taken to remove or repair these within known queen snake range, the Bureau of Endangered Resources should be contacted to arrange an onsite visit. Mitigation may be required where repairs are unavoidable.

See Also:
Living with Snakes

Information compiled from publications ER-517 93REV and ER-091.

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