Common Name: 
Rough earth snake

Scientific Name: 
Virginia striatula

Identification: 6-12 in. Gray, tan, brown or slate gray above; belly yellow or whitish; scales keeled.

Habit: Rough earth snakes burrow in leaf litter but can be found under trash, chiefly in wooded areas, and commonly in the backyard garden under mulch.

Distribution: Throughout the state in wooded and forested portions but absent from the marshes, Mississippi River bottom and south of Lake Pontchatrain.