Easy ways to identify snakes
Depending on where you are, snakes are inevitable. Here’s how to identify if the snake is venomous or not.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi? As the weather heats up and people spend time outdoors, run-ins with snakes are increasingly likely.
It is legal to kill most snakes found in Mississippi. But there are rules about when you need a license. Some species have federal protection.
Mississippi is home to more than 50 types of snakes. A small number are venomous.
Most snake-related interactions can be avoided by just walking away or letting them slither to safety. Still, there are times when you might need to keep kids and pets safe.
Here’s what we know about the rules protecting wildlife, venomous snakes that live in Mississippi and which species are protected.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi?
Yes, Mississippi residents can kill a snake in their yard. Mississippi landowners, or people who live on the property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
It’s one of a few specific exceptions when the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks allows killing a snake without a hunting or fishing license.
Nongame snakes and animals that have come inside a resident’s building, damage plants and yards or hurt pets or livestock can be killed. Nonresidents are allowed to kill wildlife that enters a building they lease or rent.
If a venomous snake poses “a reasonable danger to human life,” MDWFP regulations allow people to kill it.
In any of these cases, the animal’s body has to be disposed of or allowed to decay in nature. You can’t keep it as a trophy or sell it.
Mississippi landowners, or people who live on a property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
When you need a license to kill a snake
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks oversees regulations for hunting and the management of nongame species in the state.
Everyone needs the appropriate hunting/fishing license to harvest snakes for personal use, according to MDWFP information. No more than 20 nongame snakes and lizards can be taken a year. No more than four specimens of a species or subspecies should be taken from the wild in a year.
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Venomous snakes found in Mississippi
The Mississippi Poison Control Center via the University of Mississippi Medical Center lists venomous snakes and other animals, like spiders, stingrays and jellyfish.
The list of dangerous snakes includes:
- Timber rattlesnakes
- Pygmy rattlesnakes
- Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes
- Water moccasins (also called Cottonmouths)
- Coral snakes
- Copperheads
Snake Snap lists eight snakes with venom. The site includes specific variations of some species: Western Cottonmouth and Northern Cottonmouth, along with the Dusky and Western variations of Pygmy Rattlesnakes.
Snakes you cannot legally kill
The Endangered Species Act helps protect native wildlife and plants from dying off entirely. The MDWFP lists several animals that are protected, including the black bear, Florida Panther and gopher tortoise. All sea turtles, sawback turtles and two kinds of bat are also protected.
These snakes are protected because they’re listed as an endangered species:
- Black pine snake
- Eastern indigo snake
- Rainbow snake
- Southern hognose snake
The Eastern Indigo Snake hasn’t been seen in decades in Mississippi. It’s now considered rare in the state or extirpated, meaning locally extinct.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
