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How to differentiate native Florida snakes from invasive Burmese pythons

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Chad Gillis, Fort Myers News-Press
·3 min read

Have you ever seen a Burmese python, and would you know if you did?

Well, don't go chopping the heads off snakes until you know what you're wrestling with as several native snakes are sometimes mistaken for young Burmese pythons, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC.

"As adults, they are larger than almost all native snakes," an FWC website reads. "Typical Burmese pythons are tan in color with dark blotches along the back and sides."

Check out these photos of the big snake: Python Week: 10 amazing photo galleries of the snake invading Florida

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Biologists perform a necropsy on a large female Burmese python at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida Wednesday, April 26, 2023. The python was found as part of an effort to rid Southwest Florida of the invasive snakes. The concept involves releasing males with radio transmitters, which then find females. The males are radio tracked by the biologists, where they hopefully find large females with eggs that are then removed from the wild. The program is 10 years old. They have removed over 1,000 pythons and over 30,000 lbs. of snakes in those 10 years.

While most people realize that any 18-foot, 200-pound snake is a Burmese python that doesn't belong in Florida, smaller pythons can resemble native snakes like the coachwhip, Eastern diamondback, red rat snake, cottonmouth, Eastern Indigo snake and water snake.

Large, brown patches cover the length of the body, and there are distinguishing dark wedges on their heads.

The pattern on their skin looks almost like a giraffe, with the blotches lining up in a puzzle-like pattern.

Other constrictors have been reported as Burmese pythons as well, including the ball python, boa constrictor and North African python, according to FWC.

Coachwhip

This snake averages 4 to 6 feet in length and is typically black on the head. Coachwhips are relatively slender snakes with large heads and round pupils. Extremely fast, harmless and non-venomous, coachwhips are found throughout Florida, except for the Florida Keys, in habitats like flatwoods, sandhill, scrub, and beach dunes, according to FWC.

This image shows a coachwhip snake, which can be confused with a Burmese python.
This image shows a coachwhip snake, which can be confused with a Burmese python.

Cottonmouth

Dark-colored, heavy-bodied snakes that grow from 2 to 4 feet, cottonmouths (also called water moccasins) have a diamond-shaped head and are venomous.

A cottonmouth whips its tongue in its exhibit on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at the Birmingham Zoo in Birmingham, Alabama. Cottonmouths can sometimes be mistaken for Burmese pythons.
A cottonmouth whips its tongue in its exhibit on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at the Birmingham Zoo in Birmingham, Alabama. Cottonmouths can sometimes be mistaken for Burmese pythons.

"Cottonmouths have a broad head and a dark stripe that runs through the eye, and there is a deep facial pit between the eye and the nostril," an FWC website reads.

The vertical pupils and pitted areas above the head are dead giveaways for cottonmouths, which, themselves, are often confused with water snakes.

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Eastern diamondback

A dangerous snake, Eastern diamondback snakes have rattles, which distinguishes them from other snakes found here.

The pattern on their skin can resemble that of a Burmese python.

Eastern diamondback snakes can sometimes be confused with invasive Burmese pythons.
Eastern diamondback snakes can sometimes be confused with invasive Burmese pythons.

Eastern Indigo

These large snakes are mostly black in appearance, but they are still mistaken for Burmese pythons, according to the FWC.

Eastern Indigo snakes are non-venomous and not a threat to humans. They should not be killed but released back into the wild if found or captured.

Eastern Indigo snakes can sometimes be mistaken for Burmese pythons.
Eastern Indigo snakes can sometimes be mistaken for Burmese pythons.

Red rat

Although they appear a reddish-orange with yellowish stripes, red rat snakes are also confused with the invasive Burmese python.

This species is harmless to humans.

Red rat snakes can sometimes be mistaken for Burmese pythons.
Red rat snakes can sometimes be mistaken for Burmese pythons.

Known for their climbing skills, red rat snakes can grow to be 6 feet in length, which is about the size of a juvenile female python or adult male python.

Red rat snakes exist in every county in Florida and feed mostly on small mammals, according to FWC.

Water snake

The head of the water snake is narrow and pointed, kind of the opposite of the head found on Burmese pythons.

Water snakes can sometimes be confused with Burmese pythons.
Water snakes can sometimes be confused with Burmese pythons.

They grow to more than 4 feet and live in all of the Sunshine State except the Florida Keys.

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida native snakes can be mistaken for Burmese pythons