Pantherophis vulpinus
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Pantherophis vulpinus, commonly known as the foxsnake or the eastern fox snake, is a species of nonvenomous rat snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to North America. Between about 1990 and 2011, foxsnakes were sometimes divided into two species, with P. vulpinus as the western foxsnake, and P. gloydi as the eastern foxsnake. A 2011 paper by Crother, White, Savage, Eckstut, Graham and Gardner proposed instead that the Mississippi River be established as the species boundary between two species of foxsnakes, and that those found to its east be considered P. vulpinus (including those previously known as P. gloydi) and those found to its west be given the new name P. ramspotti. This proposed that P. vulpinus, which had been known as the western foxsnake, become known as the eastern foxsnake, and the new P. ramspotti become known as the western foxsnake. Thus, P. vulpinus is sometimes called the western foxsnake and sometimes called the eastern foxsnake.
The specific name, vulpinus, (meaning "fox-like") is in honor of Rev. Charles Fox (1815–1854), collector of the holotype, an academic play on words. The specific name for the junior synonym... Wikipedia →
Recording0:07
Canada · 2025
© tbelcoure · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Racine Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Scales Nature Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Foxsnake sighting in Point Pelee National Park on a given day, based on 357 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 9 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Foxsnake in Point Pelee National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to March, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Foxsnake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Point Pelee National Park, in our data
Point Pelee National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Eastern Foxsnake sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Eastern Foxsnake that you can see in Point Pelee National Park (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Common Garter Snake (about 50%), Common Watersnake (about 40%) and DeKay's Brownsnake (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Foxsnake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Point Pelee National Park (357 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.
