by Crystal Cockman
October 28, 2015
While out doing some road cruising for snakes with a biologist friend the other week,
The Eastern Coachwhip can reach up to 8 ft in length. Photo by Jeff Beane
we stopped for a while to stretch our legs and radiotrack a few snakes. Two of these were coachwhips, a type of snake that is native to the southern United States from southeastern North Carolina across to central California, down south to northern Mexico. There are several subspecies of coachwhips, but the species found in North Carolina is the Eastern Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum). They are found throughout the coastal plain and Sandhills, but are occasionally encountered in the Piedmont. They prefer open habitats with sandy soils.
Coachwhips are thin snakes with a pattern that looks braided, and a small tapered skinny tail that looks very much like a whip, from which they get their name. They can reach up to 8 feet in length, making them the longest snake found in our state. Their coloration goes from black or dark brown on the head to light tan on the tail. Color patterns vary by subspecies across their range.
The distinctive eye of the Eastern Coachwhip. Photo by Jeff Beane
The eyes of the coachwhip are round and deep black with a distinctive glowing orange or gold ring of coloration around the pupil, and they have excellent vision. They hunt their prey by sight and are even known to periscope, or hold their head high above the ground and above tall grasses, looking for food. As exceptionally fast snakes, coachwhips rely on speed to catch their prey, which may include insects, birds, lizards, and rodents.
Local tales have told of these snakes chasing down humans, but this likely comes simply from the snake becoming startled and moving in the same direction as the person who startled it. A myth of the southeastern U.S. is that they will chase a person down, constrict the person and whip them with their tails, but in reality they neither constrict nor whip with their tails. The legend of the hoop snake, a snake that bites its own tail and rolls towards its prey like a wheel, is sometimes also allegedly attributed to coachwhips. The bite of a coachwhip is painful but they do not possess venom.
Coachwhips are diurnal, which means they are most active during the daytime, and
Periscoping to get a good look. Photo by Jeff Beane
they are frequently seen in hot weather. They are also very good climbers. Coachwhips are oviparous, which means the mother lays eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Breeding occurs in springtime and eggs are laid in late spring or early summer, and eggs hatch in late summer or early fall. Largely as a result of habitat loss, coachwhips are a species of conservation concern in North Carolina.