Reptiles
DeKay's Brown Snake
Storeria dekayi · also called DeKay's brown snake, brown snake
DeKay’s brown snake is barely the length of a pencil, eats nothing but earthworms and slugs, and would rather flatten itself, release a bad smell, or play dead than ever bite anyone. It shares a name with one of the most venomous snakes on Earth, Australia’s eastern brown snake, and absolutely nothing else.
Overview
DeKay’s brown snake, Storeria dekayi, is a small, harmless snake common across eastern and central North America, including in city gardens, parks, and vacant lots where many other snakes cannot survive. It hunts earthworms and slugs by scent, using slightly asymmetrical jaws adapted to extract slippery prey.
A name it shares with a killer
Despite the alarming shared name, DeKay’s brown snake has no relation to Australia’s highly venomous eastern brown snake — pure coincidence of naming, nothing more. Females give birth to live young, and a threatened individual is far more likely to flatten, musk, or play dead than to bite.
Status
Least Concern — thriving even in dense urban habitat thanks to its harmless nature and a diet of abundant garden invertebrates.
DeKay's Brown Snake: common questions
Is DeKay's brown snake related to Australia's dangerous eastern brown snake?
No, despite sharing the common name brown snake, the two species are not closely related at all and belong to entirely different snake families on different continents. DeKay's brown snake is a small, harmless North American species that feeds on earthworms and slugs, while Australia's eastern brown snake is a highly venomous, medically significant species responsible for a considerable number of serious snakebite cases in Australia, and the shared name reflects only a similarity in general colouration rather than any biological relationship.
Is DeKay's brown snake dangerous to humans or pets?
No, DeKay's brown snake is entirely non-venomous and is considered one of the gentlest, least aggressive snake species in North America, very rarely biting even when handled, and posing no meaningful danger to humans or pets. Its typical defensive responses to being threatened, such as flattening its body, releasing musk, or feigning death, reflect a strong tendency to avoid confrontation rather than to bite defensively.
Why does DeKay's brown snake do so well in cities and gardens?
Its small size, secretive habits, and diet based heavily on earthworms and slugs, both of which are commonly abundant in garden soil, mulched flower beds, and vacant lots, allow DeKay's brown snake to find suitable food and shelter even in heavily developed urban and suburban environments that most other snake species cannot tolerate. This tolerance for human-altered habitat, combined with its harmless nature, makes it one of the snakes people living in cities and suburbs are most likely to actually encounter, often without realising what they have found.
How can you tell DeKay's brown snake apart from other small snakes?
DeKay's brown snake is typically a plain grey-brown to reddish-brown colour with two rows of small, faint dark spots running down the back on either side of a lighter central stripe, a subtle pattern that can help distinguish it from similarly small snakes with different marking patterns. Its small size, rarely exceeding about 30 centimetres, along with its strong association with damp soil, leaf litter, and garden debris rather than open, exposed ground, also helps narrow down identification in areas where it overlaps with other small snake species.