Common Name: 
Pygmy rattlesnake

Scientific Name: 
Sistrurus miliarius

Identification: 12-25 in. Slate gray with a row of dark spots down the back and one row on each side, black band through eyes; belly gray or tan with brown blotches: The head is triangle shaped with vertically elliptic pupils and a loreal pit between each eye and nostril. Scales keeled.

Habits: Pygmy rattlesnakes occur in wooded areas such as pinelands and dry coastlands. They avoid swamps.

Distribution: Throughout Louisiana except the Mississippi River Valley and coastal marshes and prairie west of the Atchafalaya Basin.