Fast facts
Common name: Smooth greensnake
Scientific name: Opheodrys vernalis
Range in MA: Statewide
Conservation status: Common, not listed
Fun fact: Can bob their heads to mimic vegetation blowing in the wind
Description
Smooth greensnakes are long and slender and have smooth scales. They have white or pale-yellow bellies. Young are duller in color, bluish gray to olive, but they generally acquire the green coloration of adults in their first year. Adults range from 12–24+ inches in length.
Habitat
Smooth greensnakes are active during the day. They live in open habitats such as grasslands, meadows, river and reservoir shorelines, pastures, marshes, and powerline cuts.
Life history
Mating can occur in spring or summer and females lay eggs between June to September. These snakes combine the advantages of live-bearing and egg-laying, partially incubating eggs internally so that they hatch just 1–3 weeks after they are deposited. Hatchlings are 4–6 inches long. Clutches usually contain only about 3–6 young, but two clutches may be produced in a season. Communal nests containing multiple clutches have been documented. Smooth greensnakes primarily eats spiders, caterpillars, and other insects and arthropods.