This Week’s Creature Feature: DeKay’s Brown Snake
The DeKay’s brown snake is a very common but rarely seen tiny snake. Active in vacant lots and parks in the middle of cities, the reptile has been able to adapt to urban life. They live under logs, leaf litter and rocks, eating slugs and earthworms. The brown snake will get to be about a foot long, but its head is only about the size of a wooden match. They are ovoviviparous, which means they give birth to young from eggs but the eggs develop inside the snake. They are frequently kept as pets but are fairly fragile and may stop eating in captivity.
This one was found almost frozen on my driveway after a warm day in early winter was followed by temperatures in the 20s. In another warm spell, the snake was moved to a spot wilder than my yard.