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Corn Snake | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Corn Snake

Pantherophis guttatus

ReptiliaPine woodland, old fields, farmland, rocky hillsides and abandoned buildingsLeast Concern

Field profile

The corn snake is a slender orange-and-red North American rat snake, non-venomous and a capable climber. It hunts rodents in fields, barns and outbuildings. It is among the most commonly kept snakes in captivity and exists in a very large number of selectively bred colour forms.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-08-18

Corn Snake

Corn snakes are named for granaries, not corn

The name most likely records where the snake was found rather than what it eats. Corn snakes gathered around maize cribs because the stored grain drew rodents, and a secondary explanation points to the belly pattern's resemblance to maize kernels.

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