872 Records

DeKay's brown snake
Storeria dekayi
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Storeria
Species:	S. dekayi
Binomial name
Storeria dekayi (Holbrook, 1836)
Synonyms[2]
Coluber dekayi Holbrook, 1836 Tropidonotus dekayi — Holbrook, 1842 Ischnognathus dekayi — A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1853 Storeria dekayi — Baird & Girard, 1853

Storeria dekayi, commonly known as De Kay's brown snake, De Kay's snake, and simply the brown snake (along with many other snakes), is a small non-venomous species of snake in the family Colubridae.^[3][4] The species is native to North America and Central America.

S. dekayi is native to Southern Ontario and Quebec, most of the eastern half of the United States, through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and possibly El Salvador.^[1][2] More specifically, this common species inhabits most wetland and terrestrial habitats east of the Great Plains from sea level to 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) above sea level.^[5]

Dorsally, S. dekayi is brown to gray with a lighter center stripe bordered by small black spots; ventrally, it is lighter brown or pink with small black dots at the ends of the ventral scales.^[6] Adults usually measure less than 12 inches (30 cm) in total length (including tail), but the record total length is 19+3⁄8 inches (49 cm).^[7] The dorsal scales are keeled, and it has no loreal scale.^[8] Females exceed males in snout–vent length and number of ventral scales while males exceed females in tail length, head dimensions, and number of subcaudal scales.^[9]

S. dekayi is a lover of urban areas and tends to frequent cities more often than the countryside. It can also be found in areas such as wetlands, grasslands, and forests, but it is most commonly encountered where humans are found.^[10] It prefers moist habitats.^[11] Although S. dekayi is solitary, aggregations of individuals have been observed.^[12]

Like other natricine snakes such as water snakes (genus Nerodia) and garter snakes (genus Thamnophis), S. dekayi is a viviparous species, giving birth to live young.^[13] Sexual maturity is reached at two to three years. Mating takes place in the spring, after snakes emerge from brumation. Between 3 and 41 young are born in late summer.^[14]

S. dekayi primarily feeds on slugs, snails, and earthworms.^[15][16][17] In the southern extent of its region, the snake usually preys predominantly on earthworms; however, in the northern reaches of its range, slugs are the predominant food source.^[16] It has specialized jaws that allow it to remove snails from their shells for consumption.^[14] Reports of other invertebrates (such as woodlice, mites, or millipedes) in the diet of S. dekayi are more than likely the result of accidental ingestion rather than intentional feeding, in which one of these invertebrates may have adhered to a slug or other prey item being consumed.^[18]

S. dekayi is a prey item for larger snakes, large frogs and toads, birds, and many mammals including weasels and invasive housecats.^[19] The milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) has previously been reported to be a predator of S. dekayi.^[20] An observed predator avoidance mechanism of S. dekayi is coiling the anterior portion of the body and swaying it side to side as it attempts to flee.^[21] In addition to this, it releases a foul musk from its cloaca when threatened.^[11] The species is shy and rarely found in the open, usually found hiding under rocks or logs for safety and comfort. It will also occasionally burrow. Its most active period is from about March to October.^{[citation needed]}

The specific name, dekayi, is in honor of American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay (1792–1851), who collected the first specimen on Long Island, New York, while the generic name, Storeria, honors American zoologist David Humphreys Storer.^[22][23]

This is the only North American snake whose binomial is a double honorific – that is, both the generic name and the specific name honor people.

• Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Knopf. 743 pp. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 654–655 + Plate 550).
• Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Ischnognathus dekayi, pp. 286–287).
• Clausen, H.J. (1936). "Observations on the Brown Snake Storeria dekayi (Holbrook), with especial Reference to the Habits and Birth of Young". Copeia 1936: 98-102.
• Conant, Roger; Bridges, William (1939). What Snake is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 108–110 + Plate C, Figure 14; Plate 21, Figure 60).
• Goin, Coleman J.; Goin, Olive B.; Zug, George R. (1978). Introduction to Herpetology: Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Storeria dekayi, p. 117).
• Gray, Brian S. (2014). "Natural history of Dekay's Brownsnake, Storeria dekayi (Holbrook 1836) at a site in northwestern Pennsylvania". Journal of North American Herpetology 2014 (1): 28–39.
• Holbrook JE (1842). North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. IV. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. 136 pp. (Tropidonotus dekayi, new combination, pp. 53–55 & Plate XIV opposite p. 53).
• Morris, Percy A. (1948). Boy's Book of Snakes: How to Recognize and Understand Them. (A volume of the Humanizing Science Series, edited by Jaques Cattell). New York: Ronald Press. viii + 185 pp. (Storeria dekayi dekayi, pp. 26–28, 180).
• Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp. ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 423–424, Figures 192-193 + Plate 42).
• Zim HS, Smith HM (1956). Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species. A Golden Nature Guide. New York: Simon and Schuster. 160 pp. (Storeria dekayi pp. 106, 156).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Storeria dekayi.

• Brown Snake, Reptiles and Amphibians of Iowa.