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To see the full list of every animal included in Now I Wonder, please visit the Index page.

Index Of Reptiles By Type

Crocodylians

Lizards

Snakes

Turtles

American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Class

Reptilia

Order

Crocodylia

Family

Alligatoridae (Alligators and Caimans)

Genus species

Alligator mississippiensis

  • DANGEROUS! Stay away from these crocodylians!
  • Exercise extreme caution when in areas they inhabit, especially at or near the edges of bodies of water.
    • The presence of little alligators often indicates the presence of much larger adults.
  • Author’s Note: I have never encountered an American Alligator in the wild, and I am 100% OK with that. Very few animals scare me, but adult American Alligators manage the feat. I took the photo below with a telephoto lens from inside my car, doors locked, windows rolled up, and foot on the gas. American Alligators are truly magnificent beasts, worthy of our admiration, respect, and protection. But while I find them fascinating, I don’t need to find them in person…..if you know what I mean. I don’t care what you see on TV—take these reptilian predators seriously and avoid them as if your life depends on it.

How To Identify American Alligators

  • American Alligators are the largest reptile in North Carolina.
    • Adults can grow up to 19 feet 2 inches (5.84 meters) (Behler and King 2020), although most individuals are in the range of 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m).
  • Dark in color, with thick skin covered in non-overlapping scales or scutes; many scales contain bony plates called “osteoderms”, which essentially armor the alligators, especially on their backs.
    • Rows of sharp, pointed scales run lengthwise from their necks to the tip of their tails.
  • Broad heads with wide and rounded snouts.
    • Extremely powerful biting jaws equipped with large, widely-spaced, conical teeth perfectly adapted for grabbing and holding struggling prey.
      • A large tooth on each side of the lower jaw fit into a socket in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed.
      • Only the top teeth are visible when the reptiles close their jaws (Grigg and Kirshner 2015).
    • When submerged, special membranes slide over their eyes, and valves close off their ear holes and nostrils.
  • Two pairs of limbs ending in clawed feet.
    • Front feet are partially webbed and have five toes.
    • Hind feet are fully webbed and have four toes.
  • Long, powerful, muscular, laterally compressed tail.
  • American Alligators are found in the eastern part of North Carolina and live in freshwater habitats, including ponds, lakes, rivers, and swamps.
    • While seldom aggressive unless provoked, adult American Alligators are large, dangerous predators that can easily overpower and drown an adult human.
    • Under no circumstances should the average person deliberately seek out these reptiles.

American Alligator Notes

  • American Alligators aquatic, carnivorous, powerful, and dangerous.
  • They are active predators that submerge and either float motionlessly until prey wanders too close or slowly swim towards unwary prey.
    • Their broad snouts give them flat profiles, so that only their eyes and nostrils protrude above the surface while water hides the rest of their large bodies.
  • American Alligators feed on prey taken in and under the water, like fish, turtles, frogs, and snakes, as well as prey taken from the land along the waters’ edge, like birds and mammals.
    • Adult American Alligators are large enough to take prey as large as White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
    • Alligator teeth are poorly adapted for ripping or chewing.
      • American Alligators swallow small prey whole in a series of gulps.
      • They stash large prey to decay and soften for several days, then return to feed. They twist off chunks of rotting flesh by clamping their teeth into the prey and spinning their bodies with their powerful limbs and tail.
  • American Alligators hibernate in dens through the winter. Sometimes, these reptiles become locked into surface ice that freezes around their snouts, as their nostrils poke out of the water for air.
  • They mate in early spring after they emerge from hibernation.
    • Males bellow to attract females while partially submerged.
      • The vibration from these bellows jostles the water and makes it “dance”.
    • Females reach adulthood and sexual maturity in approximately 8-10 years, while males take 12-15 years to do so (Grigg and Kirshner 2015).
  • Females lay 25-60 hard-shelled eggs in nest mounds made of mud, leaves, and rotting organic vegetation (Behler and King 2020).
    • Alligator nests can be as large as 5 – 7 feet (1.5 – 2.1 meters) wide and 1.5 – 3 feet (46 – 91 cm) tall.
    • The rotting vegetation warms the eggs and helps the embryos develop.
    • Hatchling sex is determined by the temperature in the nest (see “temperature-dependent sex determination“):
      • Low incubation temperatures result in female hatchlings
      • Higher incubation temperatures result in male hatchlings
      • Hatchling sex is determined by approximately halfway through an embryo’s incubation (Grigg and Kirshner 2015).
  • American Alligator embryos incubate over a period of nine weeks. During this time, the female alligators remain near the nest and aggressively defend their eggs from predators.
    • Baby alligators signal readiness to hatch by crying out while still inside their egg shells. In response, the attentive mother alligators tear the nests apart to expose the hatchlings as they fight free of their egg shells.
  • Hatchlings are only about 9 – 10 inches (22.8 – 25.4 cm) long. Many fall prey to predators before reaching maturity and their full adult size, despite staying close to their mothers for 1-3 years after hatching (Behler and King 2020).
  • Adult, fully grown American Alligators have no natural predators in North Carolina beyond humans.
    • In Florida, American Alligators are threatened by invasive Burmese Pythons, which are the only animals powerful enough to kill full-sized alligators.
      • The pythons wrap their body coils around the alligators and constrict; the alligators either suffocate or drown, depending on the location in which they are attacked.

Copperhead Snake (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Class

Reptilia

Order / Suborder

Squamata / Serpentes

Family

Viperidae (Pit Viper Snakes)

Genus species

Agkistrodon contortrix

  • VENOMOUS! Stay away from these snakes!

How To Identify Copperhead Snakes

  • Copperhead Snakes are large, venomous, stout-bodied terrestrial snakes that can grow up to 53 inches (134.6 inches) (Behler and King 2020).
  • These snakes have copper-colored, wedge-shaped heads which are wider than their necks, and eyes with vertical pupils (in dim light, their pupils expand and appear nearly round).
    • Like all snakes classified in the Pit Viper family Viperidae, Copperhead Snakes have a large, heat-sensitive pit on each side of their head, between their eyes and nostrils.
  • They have a pair of long, recurved, hollow fangs at the front of their mouths, which they hold folded back along their jaws at rest.
    • When ready to attack prey or defend themselves, the snakes flip their fangs forward into striking position.
  • Their thick, heavy bodies are covered in weakly keeled scales and are light brown with dark brown, dumbbell-shaped bands.
    • The color and pattern of their bodies give Copperhead Snakes impeccable camouflage when motionless in leaf litter.
      • Baby Copperhead Snakes look like the adults only with bright yellow or green tail tips (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
  • Copperhead Snakes live in all kinds of terrestrial habitats, including forests, swamps, meadows, farms, home gardens, and suburban areas.

Copperhead Snake Notes

  • Copperhead Snakes are venomous snakes that feed on a variety of terrestrial prey, including small mammals, lizards, birds, frogs, large caterpillars, and large insects like cicadas (Behler and King 2020).
    • Adults usually lie motionless and ambush prey as it passes by, although juveniles sometimes tempt prey closer by wiggling their bright yellow or green tail tips (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
    • When attacking larger prey, like rodents, Copperhead Snakes strike, inject their venom, then release the prey. The snakes then track the dying prey from a distance by smell (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
  • Despite being venomous, Copperhead Snakes are successfully attacked and eaten by a variety of predators, including the Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula getula).
  • Copperhead Snakes mate throughout the summer and are ovoviviparous.
    • Females give birth to 1-14 live young in the fall.
  • They hibernate through North Carolina’s winter in large, communal dens that can include many individual snakes.
  • While bites from these snakes are definite medical emergencies, the snakes themselves are not aggressive generally; they leave us along if we leave them alone (leaving animals alone is best practice with every animal species but is especially important with potentially dangerous animals like pit vipers).
    • The Copperhead Snake’s tan and brown pattern camouflages them beautifully in their natural habitats. As with many animals with cryptic coloration, Copperhead Snakes generally rely on remaining unnoticed by predators or potential threats as their first line defense.
    • If forced to do so by encroaching threats, they usually break cover and flee.
    • Only as a last resort will Copperhead Snakes actually strike in their own defense. In a study by Andrew Adams and co-authors published in Acta Herpetologica, a higher proportion of Copperhead Snakes showed no response to interactions than those that struck in defense (Adams et al. 2020).
    • This implies that humans need not persecute or destroy these incredible creatures. However, it is still vital to remember that these reptiles are not safe to approach by casual observers at any time.
    • Give Copperhead Snakes the respect they deserve—and a very wide berth.

Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)

Class

Reptilia

Order / Suborder

Squamata / Lacertilia

Family

Iguanidae (Iguanid Lizards)

Genus species

Sceloporus undulatus

How To Identify Eastern Fence Lizards

  • Eastern Fence Lizards are sexually dimorphic in both size and color.
  • They can grow up to 7.5 inches long (19.1 cm), measured from tip of snout to tip of tail.
    • Females grow larger, on average, than males.
  • Females:
    • Gray dorsally with distinct black zig-zag or chevron markings.
    • Pale yellow or white ventrally.
  • Males:
    • Gray to reddish with faint chevron stripes dorsally.
    • Multi-colored ventrally:
      • Patches of bright blue or green scales along the sides of their throats.
      • Venters are bright blue or green, bordered with black.
        • Environmental temperatures alter the color intensity of these patches. The colors are brightest and most saturated when male Eastern Fence Lizards are close to their ideal temperature (98.6° F or 36°C) (Goodlett and Stevenson 2019), and fade when the lizards are cold.
        • Males use these patches to signal fitness to rival males and females.
  • Both sexes have:
    • Keeled scales that give the lizards a rough appearance.
    • Long, thin tails.
    • Splayed body posture.
    • Clawed feet.
  • Eastern Fence Lizards are arboreal; look for them in sunny locations near trees.

Eastern Fence Lizard Notes

  • Eastern Fence Lizards feed on a wide variety of invertebrates, including beetles and other insects, spiders, centipedes, and snails.
  • Eastern Fence Lizards hibernate through North Carolina winters.
    • At least some individuals have demonstrated full recovery from being frozen (see “freeze tolerance“) (Pauly 2012).
    • They emerge in the spring around March, when temperatures warm.
  • Male Eastern Fence Lizards are territorial and compete with each other for access to females by “showing off” with a variety of behaviors in the presence of females.
    • “Show-off” behaviors include:
      • Shuddering: Sharp, fast, vertical head bobs.
      • Performing push-ups: Sharp, vertical bobs of their bodies by alternating bending and straightening their front legs.
      • Raising their bodies to display their colored abdominal badges.
  • Female Eastern Fence Lizards choose the males with whom they will mate.
    • Females appear to prefer males with longer heads, wider throat badges, and that performed more shudder behavior (Swierk et al. 2012).
      • They approach the chosen males and perform their own push-ups.
    • The size and color of the males’ abdominal patches and their push-ups do not seem to have much impact on the females’ choice of mates (Swierk et al. 2012) but may be important in male-male competitions.
  • Female Eastern Fence Lizards lay 6-10 eggs in late spring under rotting logs, which hatch in mid-summer. Females may lay a second clutch of eggs later in the season as well (Martof et al. 1980).
  • Eastern Fence Lizards are heavily parasitized by the larvae of Chigger Mites (Eutrombicula alfreddugesi) (Hailey et al. 2023), type of arachnid that also parasitizes humans.
    • Unlike some types of parasites, Chigger Mite larvae do not drink the blood of Eastern Fence Lizards. Instead, they feed on the lizards’ skin, first liquefying it and then drinking it, along with the lizards’ lymph fluid (Hailey et al. 2023). Once the larvae have drunk their fill, the Chiggers drop off and continue their development.

Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula getula)

Class

Reptilia

Order / Suborder

Squamata / Serpentes

Family

Colubridae (Colubrid Snakes)

Genus species

Lampropeltis getula getula

How To Identify Eastern Kingsnakes

  • Eastern Kingsnakes are large, terrestrial snakes that can grow up to 82 inches (208 cm) long (Behler and King 2020).
  • Their long, slender bodies covered in smooth scales that give them a glossy appearance.
  • Both sexes look similar. North Carolina individuals are shiny black, with pale yellow or white, widely-spaced chain markings along their body lengths.
  • Eastern Kingsnakes are widely distributed and live in a variety of habitats. They can be found nearly anywhere in North Carolina.

Eastern Kingsnake Notes

  • Eastern Kingsnakes are non-venomous snakes that feed on lizards, mice, birds, eggs, and other snakes, including venomous species such as Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix).
    • They are constrictors, which means they suffocate their prey.
    • Constrictor snakes first wrap their body coils around their prey, then patiently wait for their prey to exhale. Upon sensing exhalation, the snakes tighten their coils, which prevents their prey from inhaling. The snakes repeat this process until their prey succumbs, at which point the snakes swallow their prey whole.
      • However, if their prey is small or defenseless, Eastern Kingsnakes may skip constriction and simply swallow their prey alive (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
    • Eastern Kingsnakes successfully prey upon dangerous, venomous snakes like Copperheads and rattlesnakes because they are immune to the venom produced by these pit viper species (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
      • The presence of Eastern Kingsnakes in an area help control the number of venomous Copperheads found in the same area (Steen et al. 2014).
  • Eastern Kingsnakes are mostly diurnal, and are especially active in the morning and evening hours, but may shift to a more nocturnal habit during the hottest weeks of summer (Behler and King 2020).
  • Kingsnakes mate in the spring.
    • Females lay 3-24 cream-colored eggs mid-May to August, which hatch in 8.5-11.5 weeks, depending on temperature (Behler and King 2020).
    • Like many southeastern reptiles, Eastern Kingsnake eggs are vulnerable to attack by the invasive Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta, abbreviated as RIFA) (Swartwourt and Wilson 2022).
      • The ants chew holes through the leathery eggs and then swarm into the holes to consume the embryonic snakes.
      • These invasive ants may be contributing to an overall decline in the southeastern population of Eastern Kingsnakes.
  • Eastern Kingsnakes hibernate through the winter, then become active again in the spring when temperatures warm.
  • Although not venomous, Eastern Kingsnakes—like every animal—will aggressively defend themselves if harassed. Eastern Kingsnakes may vibrate their tails, assume a striking position, and release musk (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005). If picked up or handled, they will bite.
  • Many Eastern Kingsnakes are run over and killed by cars due to their habit of basking in the sun on hot roads.

Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)

Class

Reptilia

Order / Suborder

Squamata / Serpentes

Family

Colubridae (Colubrid Snakes

Genus species

Nerodia sipedon

  • Non-venomous, but bite aggressively in their own defense if blocked from escape and forced to do so.
  • Their saliva contains an anticoagulant that causes bites to bleed profusely (Behler and King 2020).

How To Identify Northern Water Snakes

  • Northern Water Snakes are large, heavy-bodied, aquatic snakes that can grow up to 53 inches (134.6 cm) long (Behler and King 2020).
  • Their long, thick bodies are covered in keeled scales.
  • The front part of their bodies typically have alternating red-brown and light brown bands. These bands split into alternating side blotches from their middles to their tails.
  • Their bellies are mostly yellow with a red, half-moon shape on each belly scale (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
  • Their pale lower jaws have multiple, dark, vertical stripes.
  • Northern Water Snakes live in and along ponds, lakes, swamps, marshes, canals, streams, and even man-made retention ponds.
    • Northern Water Snakes are aquatic and never found very far from their freshwater habitats. In one study of operating body temperatures of snakes in northern Virginia, a total of 67 individual snakes were observed (39) or captured (28), all of whom were found no more than 10 meters away from water (Ernst et al. 2014).

Northern Water Snake Notes

  • Northern Water Snakes are non-venomous snakes that feed on:
  • Northern Water Snakes mate in early summer between late April and June, usually in trees and bushes that overhang water.
    • Like other snake species, female Northern Water Snakes produce and release sex pheromones to advertise readiness to mate to area males. But aquatic Northern Water Snakes can’t lay their pheromone trails down on dry land in the way of terrestrial snakes. Instead, Northern Water Snake pheromones sit on top of the water surface. Male snakes swim with their heads raised above the water surface, testing the air for pheromones with tongue flicks, then hone in on receptive females by swimming towards the more concentrated scent (Aldridge et al 2005).
    • Females are ovoviviparous and usually bear 15-30 live young in the fall (Behler and King 2020).
  • In the spring and fall, Northern Water Snakes are active during the early morning and late evening. In summer, they hunt mostly at night (Gibbons and Dorcas 2005).
  • Northern Water Snakes like to bask in the sun in low-hanging trees and shrubs or on rocks but always have an easy escape route into water.
    • They are very skittish snakes that prefer to flee threats rather than face them down. However, they are notoriously bad-tempered if cornered (Martof et al. 1980) and can—and will—inflict painful bites if forced to actively defend themselves.
    • If harassed and unable to escape, these snakes will flatten their heads to make themselves appear larger and more threatening, gape their mouths, and bite readily and repeatedly in their own defense.
    • Wounds caused by Northern Water Snakes bleed for a long time, thanks to an anticoagulant in the snakes’ saliva (Behler and King 2020).

Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Class

Reptilia

Order

Testudines

Family

Chelydridae (Snapping Turtles)

Genus species

Chelydra serpentina

  • This species BITES!

How To Identify Snapping Turtles

  • Snapping Turtles grow to an average of 18.5 inches (47 cm) but can get much bigger with age and plenty of food.
  • They have:
    • Massive heads, with hooked jaws powered by strong biting muscles
    • Long, tapering tails spiked with large, sawtooth, triangular scales
    • Small, thin, cross-shaped plastrons
    • Domed carapaces with three rows of longitudinal keels (especially prominent in young turtles) and serrated scutes along the hind edges.
    • Toes end in long, strong, curved claws
  • Snapping Turtles like freshwater habitats with soft mud bottoms and lots of vegetation, where they hunt by ambush.
    • They bury themselves in the substrate, leaving only their eyes and nostrils exposed, then lunge out and snap at passing prey.
  • Snapping Turtles are omnivorous and eat:

Snapping Turtle Notes

  • Snapping Turtles can reach truly impressive sizes and weights, as in the case of the Snapping Turtle shown basking on a creek-side rock in the image gallery above.
  • In general, Snapping Turtles are bad-tempered and aggressive, especially in comparison to other turtle species.
    • Snapping Turtles tend to be most aggressive out of the water and will snap at anything that encroaches on their space.
    • When out of the water, they may feel more vulnerable because:
      • They are slow-moving on land and thus can’t flee threats quickly.
      • They can’t retract their bodies into their shells.
      • Their plastrons are reduced to mere cross-shaped structures that expose much of their soft bellies. While underwater, Snapping Turtles dig themselves into the substrate so no predator can attack them from below and they right themselves easily. But on land, these reptiles
  • Snapping Turtles stay in the water unless nesting, when females wander to find appropriate nest sites.
  • Snapping Turtles mate from May to November.
  • Female Snapping Turtles lay about 25 eggs in shallow nests, which hatch in about three months (Martof et al. 1980).
    • Baby Snapping Turtles are only about the size of a golf ball when they first hatch.