At A Glance
North Louisiana is home to more than 100 species of reptiles, including 15 species of lizards, 60 of snakes, and 26 of turtles. You can learn more about some of the reptiles we’ve met by clicking on the cards below the numbers.
The locations in the badges are the biomes where we’ve met them (and where we think you’ll be most likely to come across them). That doesn’t mean they don’t hang out in other places.Â
Species of Turtles
Species of Snakes
By The Numbers
Learn more about reptiles in North Louisiana.
Invasive Species
Species of Reptiles
Species of Lizards
Alligators
You're most likely to find these Cretaceous period lizards swimming through a swamp or lake or sunning on a log. BUT, they do roll up on land, and will hang out under bushes near lakes. They can run up to 30 mph in short bursts -- so watch your step in those lakey areas.
Lizards
Green Anoles
You'll meet these little color-morphin' friends scurrying across wooden platforms, weaving over and under pine straw on the ground, or grabbing lunch from a low-hanging tree branch.
Five-Lined Skinks
You'll meet these fiesty little skinks wherever you look near bushes...especially if those bushes are near standing water.
Little Brown Skinks
We find these little camo animals in dry areas near swamps. Like their legless penny-colored relatives, they're often on (or under) pine straw.
Eastern Fence Lizards
You can meet these lizards throughout North Louisiana year round. You'll most likely find these little guys and gals at Corney Lake or the Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden in Kisatchie.
Broadhead Skinks
You'll meet this skink on rotten logs and in deep brushy forested areas near water (so basically the entirety of North Louisiana is potential habitat for them).
Venomous Snakes
Canebrake Rattlesnakes
Your most likely to meet these chevron-wearing snakes in hardwood forests. If you've spent much time in deep woods, odds are you've walked past one of these, since they blend with their environment dangerously well.
Cottonmouths
You'll meet cottonmouths -- aka water moccasins -- in and near swamps, lakes, and other bodies of water, but not if they see you first. These snakes musk when they're spooked, so if you smell a treacherous stench, take a look around, you might be in the presence of this Duke of the Swamp.
Copperheads
You'll find these bad-tempered snakes in roads, forests, swamps, your yard -- pretty much everywhere. Their hobbies include blending in with their environment and snapping at people who disturb them.
Nonvenomous Snakes
Western Rat Snake
These snakes hang out in forests, yards, swamps...basically, it's one of the most common snakes you'll meet in North Louisiana.
Mississippi Green Water Snake
As you can probably guess from this name, Mississippi greens are found in lakes and swamps in North Louisiana.
Broad-Banded Water Snake
You're most likely to meet this snake when you're spending quality time at the swamp. They're all over Black Bayou NWR near Monroe.
Diamondback Water Snake
You're most likely to find these cottonmouth and rattlesnake dopplegangers sunning near or swimming in a lake.
Turtles
Eastern Box Turtles
You'll find these land turtles in wooded areas near streams, especially where there's undergrowth, and maybe in your yard.
Red-Eared Sliders
You'll find these turtles swimming in or sunning near pretty much any body of water you visit, including sloughs and ditches.
Visit Our Wildlife
Explore North Louisiana's Outdoors.
Learn about national wildlife refuges, Kisatchie National Forest ranger districts, state wildlife management areas, and state parks found throughout North Louisiana.