Can NC snakes climb fences or up the side of a house? Some can. Experts explain
Climbing: It’s an activity performed by adventure-seekers at parks and gyms, mountain goats in the Rockies and, sometimes, snakes.
To avoid getting too close to the slithering reptiles, only looking down at the ground will not suffice. One must also look up.
But not all snakes climb — though those that do tend to do it well.
The News & Observer spoke with two North Carolina wildlife experts to learn more about which snakes climb and why they do it.
Which snakes climb?
Just over three dozen species of snakes live in North Carolina, and only a few climb well, said Falyn Owens, an extension biologist at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
The state’s venomous snakes do not get high off the ground, Owens said. Copperheads — the most common venomous snake in the state and the only venomous snake that lives in the Triangle — have thick, heavy bodies not ideal for climbing.
“All snakes can climb to some degree, but some are much better climbers than others,” said Jeff Beane, a collections manager for herpetology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Two species found in North Carolina climb skillfully: rat snakes and rough green snakes.
Why do snakes climb?
Like any other animal, snakes need to eat. And sometimes, their food is not on the ground, but in a tree.
Bird eggs comprise a significant part of the rat snake’s diet, so rat snakes often climb trees to find bird nests.
“There’s a running joke that says if you find a snake somewhere and you’re like, ‘How in the world did it get there,’ it’s probably a rat snake,” Owens said.
Rough green snakes, covered in bright green scales, spend ample time in the treetops, Owens said, where they blend in with the foliage.
Rat snakes and rough snakes sleep in trees, too, so food isn’t the only reason why snakes would climb.
“Other snakes are pretty much, if they’re going to try to climb anything, the only reason why they would do that is to try to get to some food source,” Owens said.
What can snakes climb?
Material matters. A smooth or slick surface doesn’t provide the traction that snakes would need to ascend, but something with texture makes for easier climbing.
“Rat snakes are good at climbing up the sides of trees and things like that where there’s irregularities that they can catch their bodies on,” Beane said.
Snakes can also climb brick, which means they could scale houses and other buildings. Fences are fair game, too, Owens said.
“A fence that is genuinely snake-proof would have to have basically no holes in it, or the holes would have to be extremely small,” Owens said. “And, again, if you want to keep rat snakes out, it would have to be a slick, sheer surface that would be pretty difficult to accomplish.”
What goes up will probably not come down (at least not easily)
Snakes could fall from a tree limb, but that doesn’t happen often.
If something or someone shakes a tree, or if a snake coils around or latches onto a prey and loses its balance, the snake might fall.
“Usually, if a snake’s a good enough climber to get up in a tree, it’s not just going to randomly fall out,” Beane said. “Something would have to dislodge it, make it fall out.”
Snakes in Wake County
- Many of North Carolina’s 38 species of snakes are common in the right habitats — for example, in the mountains or coastal areas. In urban areas in the Piedmont region, rat snakes, DeKay’s brown snakes, garter snakes, worm snakes and earth snakes are common. “The ones that people tend to stumble upon just kind of out in the open where they didn’t expect them and they’re not looking for snakes, it’s usually going to be rat snakes, DeKay’s brown snakes and then, of course, the one venomous species that we have that is abundant in the Piedmont, which is the copperhead,” Owens said.
- About 20-25 snake species are found in Wake County, Beane said, though people won’t see some of those unless they’re looking for them. For example, in Wake County, cottonmouths only live around Buffalo Creek near Wendell.
This story was originally published June 6, 2024 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Can NC snakes climb fences or up the side of a house? Some can. Experts explain."
