Farancia abacura
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The mud snake (Farancia abacura) is a species of nonvenomous, semiaquatic, colubrid snake endemic to the southeastern United States. The mud snake usually grows to a total length (including tail) of 40 to 54 inches (1-1.4 m), with the record total length being slightly over 80 inches (2 m).
This species is sexually dimorphic in size. Female adults are larger than males in total length. The upperside of the mud snake is glossy black. The underside is red and black, and the red extends up the sides to form bars of reddish-pink, although some have a completely black body with slightly lighter black spots instead of the common reddish colors.
The heavy body is cylindrical in cross section, and the short tail has a terminal spine. The head scalation is distinctive in that there is only one internasal scale, no preocular scale, and one anterior temporal scale. The dorsal scales are smooth, and are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. There are 168–208 ventral scales and 31–55 subcaudal scales. The anal plate is divided.
Farancia abacura is closely related to Farancia erytrogramma, also called the rainbow snake. There are two recognized subspecies of Farancia... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mudsnake sighting in Everglades National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 54 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–July and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mudsnake in Everglades National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August–October and December, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mudsnake sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Mudsnake sightings, Everglades National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 30%).
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Mudsnake that you can see in Everglades National Park (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are North American Racer (about 40%), Corn Snake (about 30%) and Scarletsnake (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mudsnake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Everglades National Park (19 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
