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U.S. States with the Most Venomous Snake Species

Name the states that have the greatest number of different species of venomous snakes.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 7, 2019
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First submittedSeptember 29, 2019
Times taken22,487
Average score80.0%
Rating4.41
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# Species
State
19
Arizona
15
Texas
11
Alabama
10
California
10
Georgia
# Species
State
10
New Mexico
10
Oklahoma
9
Mississippi
9
South Carolina
8
Missouri
+1
Level 75
Oct 7, 2019
First play!! And you forgot to change the amount of time, its currently at 4 minutes
+2
Level ∞
Oct 7, 2019
Whoops. Updated.
+42
Level 90
Oct 7, 2019
No Florida? That's hugely surprising to me.
+1
Level 49
Jan 22, 2024
Source says Florida has seven, so it barely missed the list.
+1
Level 79
Oct 7, 2019
Some surprise omissions for sure. What is the source for this quiz?
+4
Level ∞
Oct 7, 2019
Added the source, thanks.
+26
Level 84
Oct 8, 2019
If only Washington, DC were a state! ;-)
+42
Level 74
Oct 8, 2019
I think there are only 2 species - Republicans and Democrats.
+32
Level 43
Dec 5, 2019
I see no reason to compare those beautiful creatures to awful people
+6
Level 73
Oct 11, 2019
"Let me start by saying that I am not a herpetologist. This page is designed to list the venomous snakes of each state, but should in no way be considered an authoritative list. This page was compiled from information in the public domain, and has not been reviewed by a herpetologist."

...the preamble from the source, which is accurate in saying it should not be an authoritative list...

+36
Level 88
Nov 13, 2019
username checks out
+1
Level 68
Dec 5, 2019
LOOOOL
+10
Level 38
Dec 5, 2019
My first guesses were Florida and Hawaii.
+6
Level 61
Jan 21, 2022
Hawaii actually has NO native snakes or lizards or almost any reptiles at all. Any snakes on the island were introduced and invasive.
+2
Level 69
Jun 5, 2022
Yeah, you would think Hawaii for a hot climate, but it's so isolated geographically that it makes sense it isn't there after a second thought.
+3
Level 90
Dec 5, 2019
Not to be contrarian, but I'm somewhat skeptical of this list. 1) The author of the list denies that it's authoritative. 2) The line between species and sub species are rather blurred and most of the species listed would be considered to be subspecies. 3) The list is heavily skewed because of one person, Roger Conant. He was the first person to write a comprehensive taxonomy book on the reptiles and amphibians of North America. He was a professor at University of New Mexico and he spent most of his time cataloging species in the American Southwest. Most field herpetologists specializing in American snakes are connected to him. I spent a month in college running around south Oklahoma with one of his direct disciples and got lots of stories.
+4
Level 75
Dec 5, 2019
I am also skeptical of this list, at least as far as my own state of Missouri. The Missouri Department of Conservation lists only five venomous snakes for Missouri - copperhead, cottonmouth, timber rattler, western pygmy rattler, and massauga. I checked the source and it counts subspecies, too. The northern and southern copperheads on the list are subspecies, as are the western and eastern massaugas. Eastern massaugas are now considered extirpated from our state. The source still listed both of them but failed to include the prairie massauga which is another subspecies found in the state. The western pygmy rattler is a subspecies, too, but it's the only pygmy rattler found in the state and so should be counted. I prefer to go with the MDC list and leave the count at five. If one includes subspecies then seven would be correct, but the source is still incorrect as it includes the extirpated eastern massauga and does not list the prairie massauga.
+4
Level 76
Jun 5, 2022
How many times in one paragraph can one misspell massasauga?
+1
Level 68
Dec 5, 2019
Missouri??? Very surprised by that one.
+1
Level 63
Jun 5, 2022
I was not expecting California, because I live there and am familiar with our venomous snakes. The only venomous snakes we have are rattlesnakes--no copperheads, cottonmouths, or coral snakes. But I guess when every rattler subspecies is counted separately, they add up.
+1
Level 56
Jun 5, 2022
I wanted my state to be at the top of a quiz... just not this one
+1
Level 49
Jun 7, 2022
Thanks for the quiz!

Guessing Southern states and/or states with hot temperature helped to get them all. It was a surprise that Florida is not on the list.

It would have been a big surprise to see Alaska on the list. We have in Finland only one venomous snake species, viper (kyy in Finnish).

+1
Level 47
Apr 22, 2023
I thought of Texas and Florida