Around Mississippi
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local snake information
Snake control in Mississippi
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Snakes in Mississippi: what to know
What to note
Where you see snakes, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.
Local research
Snakes in Mississippi: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which snakes actually live in Mississippi, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
Of the 55 snake species in Mississippi, only six are venomous: copperhead, cottonmouth, pygmy rattlesnake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake and coral snake.
Venomous species
MDWFP notes the majority of bites happen when people try to capture or kill a snake.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks - Museum of Natural ScienceCoral snakes inhabit sandy pinewoods in the southeastern counties of Mississippi and are secretive, generally uncommon to rare.
Coral snake range
They sometimes turn up in yards and gardens of houses near suitable habitat.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks - Museum of Natural ScienceThe cottonmouth is Mississippi's primary snakebite species and is often abundant in suitable habitat statewide, including brackish coastal marshes and barrier islands.
Cottonmouth is the top bite species
MDWFP advises treating every snake found near water with caution.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks - Museum of Natural ScienceSnake species recorded in Mississippi
- Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) — Statewide in Virginia and common in gardens and woodlots; the most common venomous species in the Mid-Atlantic. In Florida only the western Panhandle.
- Eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) — Throughout Florida; largest eastern venomous snake.
- Pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius) — Throughout Florida; small but common in suburban yards.
MDWFP says canebrake rattlesnakes occur in forest and river bottoms throughout the state except the immediate Gulf Coast, while eastern diamondbacks have been eliminated from most of their historic Mississippi range.
Rules that apply in Mississippi
For context, nationally
Sources: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks - Museum of Natural Science; CDC/NIOSH; Nuisance wildlife: Snakes; Recognizing Florida's Venomous Snakes (WEC 202/UW229). Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
Explore Mississippi cities
Biloxi
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Columbus
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Greenville
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Gulfport
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Hattiesburg
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Jackson
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Meridian
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Olive Branch
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Pearl
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Southaven
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Starkville
Humid Subtropical · rural setting
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Humid Subtropical · suburban setting
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Vicksburg
Humid Subtropical · rural setting
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Clinton
Humid Subtropical · suburban setting
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