{"id":96595,"date":"2025-08-20T10:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/96595\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T10:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:38:12","slug":"wildlife-officials-ask-florida-residents-to-report-sightings-of-this-elusive-snake-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/96595\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife officials ask Florida residents to report sightings of this \u2018elusive\u2019 snake. Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are asking the public to report sightings of the \u201celusive\u201d rainbow snake, according to a news release.<\/a><\/p>\n

The FWC said the visually striking snake\u2019s population has declined in recent decades.<\/p>\n

According to the release, the semi-aquatic snake feeds on American eels, another animal whose population is also in decline. That dependency and habitat loss throughout Florida are helping lead to the decline.<\/p>\n

The snakes stand out with their iridescent black or violet-blue with three red stripes along their back. Their lip and chin scales are yellow, marked with violet spots, and adults typically reach 3 to 4 feet in length.<\/p>\n

According to the FWC, rainbow snakes are usually found in or near water, including rivers, springs and brackish marshes.<\/p>\n

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it\u2019s FREE)<\/a> | PINIT! Share your photos<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Officials also said that snake fungal disease is impacting rainbow snake populations in other states, raising concerns about long-term survival of the species.<\/p>\n

According to the FWC, a south Florida subspecies was historically found in Fisheating Creek, located in Glades County \u2014 more than 150 miles south of the nearest known population in Lake County. However, it has not been documented there since 1952.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need help from Floridians and visitors to better understand where rainbow snakes still occur in the state,\u201d said Kevin Enge, Research Scientist with FWC\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. \u201cEvery sighting report gives us valuable data about their current distribution and helps us assess the health of the species in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you spot a rainbow snake in Florida, you are asked to report your sighting to the FWC.<\/p>\n

Photographs are especially helpful in confirming sightings and can be included when you submit your sighting online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are asking the public to report sightings of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[2808,14059,62917,79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-96595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-lake-county","10":"tag-rainbow-snake","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}