January 7th 2009 • HOME •

Snakes

If you see a snake on Fire Island, count yourself lucky. They are fascinating animals, and they eat insects such as mosquitoes that you probably don't find so fascinating.

No harmful-to-humans snakes are known to exist on the island. In the unlikely event that you see a snake, it is probably one of the following:

• Common garter snake. There are actually three closely-related species, they all eat insects, slugs, worms, and occasionally mice. They can all be identified by three dorsal stripes.
• Northern water snake. Usually found in or near water, it feeds primarily on frogs and small fish. It sometimes behaves aggressively, but it is just for show.
• Milk Snake--so named because farmers used to believe that they sucked milk from cows. Actually they eat by constricting--coiling around and crushing--their prey to death. But don't worry, they are never more than four feet long, and aren't interested in humans.

Excellent illustrations of these snakes appeared in the August 2001 issue of the New York State Conservationist magazine.

Updated 21 May 2003