Status: The status of the Copperbelly Water Snake is unique among Kentucky's imperiled species. A Habitat Conservation Agreement was developed to protect the animal and its habitat while preventing the need to add it to the threatened and endangered species list. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources led a group composed of state and federal agencies, the Western Kentucky Coal Association, and the Kentucky Farm Bureau in working out this landmark agreement.

Description: The Copperbelly Water Snake is a distinct subspecies of the Plainbelly Water Snake. Adults reach a length of between 30 and 48 inches. The Copperbelly Water Snake has a dark (usually black) back with a bright orange-red belly. Blotches of dark pigment extend onto the belly scales.

Range: Historically, the range of the Copperbelly Water Snake included south-central Michigan and northwestern Ohio, southwestward through Indiana to southeastern Illinois and western Kentucky. In Kentucky, the Copperbelly Water Snake is now restricted to isolated populations in the Western Coalfield Region.

Habitat: The Copperbelly Water Snake is found in swamps, sloughs and bottomland hardwood forests. Upland areas adjacent to these habitat types are also utilized mainly as travel corridors.

Life History: Copperbelly Water Snakes emerge from hibernation in early spring and migrate to shallow water wetland areas. They feed mostly on frogs, tadpoles, and salamanders. When these shallow swamps dry up, the snakes migrate to nearby forested areas. Upland areas provide the snakes with important summer habitat, as well as providing corridors for movement from one wetland to another. Copperbelly Water Snakes spend most of the summer along the forest edge. The Copperbelly may spend less time around water than any of the other water snakes. In the fall, the snakes begin to move toward their hibernation sites. Young snakes are born in the fall in or around the hibernaculum. The average size of a litter is 18 or fewer.

Causes of Decline: Loss of habitat has caused the decline of the Copperbelly Water Snake. Historically, the conversion of bottomland hardwood forest to cropland has been the principal factor in habitat loss. Current threats to habitat include conversion to cropland, surface coal mining, channelization of streams, and urban and commercial development.

Information, photo, and range map from: Slone, T. and T. Wethington (eds.). 1998. Kentucky's Threatened and Endangered Species. Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, KY. Photo courtesy of John MacGregor.

Back to Kentucky's Flora and Fauna page