The Red Pygmy—
A Coastal Carolina Specialty
By Frederick Boyce
North Carolina is known for beaches, mountains, furniture, sweet potatoes,
Blackbeard and Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but to snake researchers and avid
aficionados all over the world, our state is better known for something else. There
is a remarkable tendency for certain snake populations in our Coastal Plain to
exhibit a very high degree of red, reddish or reddish-orange coloration. This
condition is known among scientists as “erythrism,” and such animals are said to be
“erythristic.”
The mole king snake (subject of last months article), the corn snake (sometimes
known locally as the “red oak”), the eastern garter snake, the banded water snake
and two types of small, closely related litter snakes (the northern brown snake
and the red-bellied snake) are all known to display erythristic color variations
in the Coastal Plain. The best-known example, however, and the only one that’s
venomous, is the red-phase Carolina pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius.
Carolina pygmies range down through South Carolina and across central
Georgia to north-central Alabama, but they reach the extreme northeastern apogee
of their range on the Albemarle Peninsula around Lake Mattamuskeet, and that is
where the coastal red variants are brightest and most prevalent. Hyde County is, in
fact, the most renowned location for red pygmies, but this color phase also occurs
in Beaufort, Pamlico and Carteret counties, though down our way they tend to be
more of a dull brick-red or reddish-purple color. To the south of us their ground
color switches to gray or grayish-brown, while farther inland toward the Sand Hills,
especially in Moore County, some specimens will display a beautiful lavender color.
In their 1871 survey, Elliott Coues and H.C. Yarrow of Fort Macon listed pygmy
rattlesnakes as occurring on Shackleford Banks, but no specimens have been found
there in modern times. Pygmy rattlesnakes do not occur at all on Bogue Banks, but
they can be found in certain parts of the Croatan Forest as well as Down East. They
have very specific habitat preferences, being most often found in coastal scrub and
wiregrass habitats as well as in pine flatwoods, being especially fond of longleaf pine
savannahs and mixed pine-oak forests. They are not evenly distributed along our
coast, and are impossible to find in some areas, while locally common in others.
Any reptile enthusiast who has travelled far and long to get pictures of one will
readily assert that they are not easy to come by. It’s a matter of timing as much as
anything else. They seem to be most active in the fall, but can also be found in the
summer if conditions are right.
The world’s smallest rattlesnake species, Carolina pygmies reach a maximum
length of about two feet, putting them at the opposite end of the scale from the
mighty eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the state’s (and world’s) largest rattlesnake
species. While their venom is rather potent drop-for-drOp, pygmy rattlesnakes are
so small that they are incapable of delivering a fatal dose to anything as large as a
person, and there has, in fact, never been a human fatality attributed to them. As
with any of our venomous snakes, the best way to avoid a painful bite is to leave
them strictly alone and allow them to go on their way unmolested.
While there is a small isolated population in northern Georgia, these very pretty
little red rattlesnakes are primarily a North Carolina coastal specialty. Along with
many of our other snakes and non-game wildlife, they are most populous in remote
backwater areas, off the beaten path and well away from the principal tourist
destinations. Such rural areas often suffer from depressed economies, and while
they might get a boost from waterfowl hunters in the fall, they are typically side
stepped by the mainstream of tourist dollars.
Residents of these areas should realize that their snakes—all of their snakes—
have very real economic value. There are people all over the world who will happily
fly here (much like the scuba divers who come to our coast from all over in the
hopes of seeing a sand tiger shark), just to get photos of our famous little red
The Shoreline i August 2018
pygmies (as well as our other local snakes and reptiles). They spend money on gas,
food and lodging just like any other tourist, and are by and large very desirable as
visitors go, being typically well-educated and environmentally conscious. They are
well-behaved and very unlikely to litter or otherwise deface natural areas. Wise
business owners, such as the proprietors of the Hotel Engelhard in Hyde County,
realize this and gladly welcome “herpers,” the reptile/amphibian equivalents of
birders.
People in Hyde County are very much aware of the value and fame of their little
red rattlesnakes, as are wildlife officials, so it is best not to try collecting or killing
one. Like all of our rattlesnakes, pygmies are strictly protected in North Carolina,
but you can see one up close anytime (with far less effort and fewer bug bites) in the
Snake Pavilion at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
Sources for this article: Reptiles of North Carolina by Palmer and Braswell; Sean P.
Bush, MD.
Frederick Boyce is the staff herpetologist at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
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Red-phase Carolina pygmy rattlesnake in Pamlico County. This one was a gravid
(heavy with young) female, basking alongside a highway to incubate her brood.
—Photo by Fred Boyce
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