Pygmy Rattle Snake

Range and Habitat: The Carolina pigmy rattler is found in the northeastern, northwestern, and central portion of Georgia and throughout South Carolina . Dusky pigmy rattlers inhabits the southern Coastal Plain area. Although fairly common in the Coastal Plain of both states, populations in the Piedmont are few and scattered. Dusky pygmies inhabit areas near water sources like creeks, marshes, and swamps but can be found in a variety of habitats including pine and scrub oak sandhills, scrub pinewoods, mixed forests of pine and hardwoods, longleaf pine-wiregrass forests, swamps, and even xeric uplands. Carolina pigmies are generally restricted to drier habitats and are most common in sandhills and xeric pine forests. When available, this species is known to use gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows as well as those of small mammals.

Habits: Pigmy rattlesnakes spend most of their time well-hidden among leaf litter and can be very hard to spot. From such hiding places they ambush a variety of prey including lizards, frogs, small mammals, and insects as well as centipedes. These snakes are most often encountered crossing roads on summer evenings. Females give birth to live young in the late summer or fall.