A rare rainbow snake that hasn’t been spotted in the area for more than 50 years was discovered and photographed by a hiker in Florida.
The FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute posted on the Internet that Tracey Cauthen discovered the multicolored, 4-foot-long snake while hiking in the Ocala National Forest, 47 miles north of Orlando.
The institute received confirmation from the Florida Museum of Natural History that this sighting represented the species’ first observation in Marion County since 1969. According to the museum, rainbow snakes are harmless and nonᴠᴇɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs.
The institution states that because of their cryptic behaviors, rainbow snakes are very aquatic and spend the most of their lives concealed among water vegetation. The snake, also known as an “eel moccasin,” is thought to have entered the forest following a recent fluctuation in the water level in the Rodman Reservoir, according to biologists.
The Florida-based Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition in 2010 requesting for the South Florida rainbow snake to be protected under the ᴇɴᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀed Species Act along with 403 other Southeast freshwater species that were in danger of going extinct.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, the typical adult Rainbow snake is about 3 feet 6 inches long, with the record being 5 feet 6 inches. The snake can be found throughout Florida’s Panhandle and northern peninsula, as well as along the coast from Louisiana to Maryland, according to the museum.
