HARMLESS. The Smooth Earth Snake is characterized by smooth scales on the front part and weakly keeled scales on the rear part of the body, a divided anal scale, a gray or brown unpatterned head, body, and tail, six scales on the upper lip, and two or more scales bordering the rear edge of the eye. The belly is white. Adult males have longer tails than females, and females grow to a greater total length. The young look like small adults.
Adults normally grow 18.0-25.4 cm (7-10 inches) in total length. The largest specimen from Kansas is a female (KU 177023) from Jefferson County with a total length of 30.5 cm (12 inches), collected by Jill Krebs in April 1978. The maximum length throughout the range is 39.1 cm (153⁄8 inches) (Conant and Collins, 1998).
This small snake is known from the Marais des Cygnes and Kansas/Missouri River drainage systems in northeastern Kansas.
Found in deciduous woods, exposed rocky slopes in mixed deciduous-pine associations, grassy slopes with rocks in areas of deciduous forest, mesic hammocks, wooded areas around marshes and other damp places, rocky, sparse woods, and forest edge, old fields, vacant lots, wooded or brushy residential areas. Secretive; often under logs, rocks, or other cover types by day. May aggregate during hibernation.
Currently, the following areas are designated critical for Smooth Earth Snakes:
(1) All suitable woodland habitat within Wyandotte, Johnson, Miami, Linn, Leavenworth, and Jefferson counties.
The Smooth Earthsnake lives on rocky hillsides in moist woodlands and woodland edge situations. Active from April to October, this secretive species forages at night for food and spends the day hidden beneath rocks and logs or in leaf litter. During winter, it crawls deep into crevices on rocky hillsides to avoid cold temperatures. Errol D. Hooper, Jr., (pers. comm., 1985; Collins, 1993) found a male and female Smooth Earthsnake beneath the same rock on 21 September in Franklin County.
The Smooth Earthsnake mates in the spring after emergence from winter inactivity and also may mate in the fall. Courtship is unknown and probably occurs at night. After eleven to fourteen weeks, females give birth, the number of young per litter ranging from two to fourteen (Fitch, 1985), with an average of six or seven. Birth generally occurs during August or September. Species of Virginia are viviparous Natricids possessing differentiated chorioallantoic and omphalallantoic placentae. Structural studies demonstrate specialized epithelia consistent with gas exchange and histotrophic nutrient uptake. Embryos rely predominantly on yolk reserves, but maternal provisioning of water, ions, and some organic nutrients occurs, indicating lecithotrophic viviparity with moderate placental exchange.
This species feeds exclusively on earthworms (Collins, 1993).
Predators of the Smooth Earth Snake include birds, mammals, and other snakes (Collins, 1993).
Similar in habits and habitat to the Red-bellied Snake, the Smooth Earth Snake has a more restricted distribution in Kansas. It prefers woodland/grassland ecotones and associated leaf litter.
Taylor (1929) first reports this species from Kansas based on a specimen he collected during August 1910 in Anderson County. No other collection information was provided in his account. Brumwell (1936) indicated records for this species from Anderson, Douglas, Franklin, and Jefferson counties. Smith (1950) listed the species from Leavenworth (15 miles northeast of Lawrence). Jefferson (10 miles north of Lawrence, Douglas (Lawrence), Franklin (Ottawa), and Anderson counties.
The Smooth Earth Snake is a small fossorial snake, and thus its rarity is more perceived than real. The biggest threat to its continued existence in Kansas is that of commercial and residential development. Fitzgerald and Nilon (1994) and Ahrens (1997) reported examples of this snake from Camp Naish in urban Wyandotte County. There is a need to determine the effects of development on populations and to quantify the most productive habitats so they can be set aside or mitigated.
Fitzgerald and Nilon (1994) attempted to model habitat utilization; however, their results could not be generally validated due to the paucity of information available. Two components (canopy cover and litter) were found to be significant predictors; however, a recent specimen collected dead following a prairie burn in Jefferson County by George Pisani would indicate that Smooth Earth Snakes are not necessarily limited by these factors.
Platt et al. (1974) recommended close scrutiny of lumbering operations, restriction of large-scale lumbering, and discontinued use of persistent pesticides in areas where this snake is found. The Smooth Earthsnake was listed as a Kansas Threatened species in 1987 and downlisted to SINC in 2015.
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this species of six years, one month, and seven days.
References
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