Pygmy Rattlesnake
VenomousSistrurus miliarius · also called ground rattler, pigmy rattler
The pygmy rattlesnake is small, well camouflaged, and easy to miss. Its rattle is so tiny that it sounds like a buzzing insect and is often inaudible more than a few feet away, so unlike its larger relatives it rarely gives useful warning. It is a common cause of bites in the southeast precisely because people do not notice it.
Before anything else
- Back away and leave it alone. A snake that can see you leaving has no reason to bite. Most bites in the United States happen to people who picked up, cornered, or tried to kill a snake.
- Never handle a snake to identify it. Every identification on this site can be made from a photo or from several feet away.
- If someone is bitten, call emergency services now. Keep the limb still and below the heart, remove rings and watches, and go to hospital. Do not cut, suck, apply ice, or use a tourniquet — all of these make outcomes worse.
- Do not try to catch the snake for identification. A photo from a distance is enough, and hospitals treat symptoms rather than species.
In the US, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222. This site is a reference, not medical advice.
Quick facts
- Venom
- Venom is less potent than the large rattlesnakes and the yield is small, so fatalities are extremely rare — but bites are painful, can cause serious local tissue damage, and require hospital treatment.
- Adult length
- 15–24 inches (38–61 cm)
- Markings
- A row of dark blotches down a grey or tan back, usually with a rust-orange stripe running along the spine between them. Small dark spots along the sides.
- Habitat
- woods, wetland, grassland, suburban
- Family
- pit viper
- Range
- 14 US states
How to identify a pygmy rattlesnake
- Small — usually under two feet — but thick-bodied for its length, not slender.
- Rust-orange stripe along the spine, crossed by dark blotches.
- Tiny rattle that buzzes like an insect rather than the classic rattling sound.
- Nine large plates on top of the head, unlike the small scales of Crotalus rattlesnakes.
What it does when it sees you
Sits still and relies on camouflage in leaf litter. Often found in gardens, mulch beds and woodland edges in the southeast.
What the pygmy rattlesnake is confused with
One test settles each of these.
Brownsnakes are slender, have no rattle, and show two rows of small dark dots down the back rather than solid blotches.
Copperheads have hourglass crossbands reaching the belly, not a row of separate blotches, and no rattle.