The well-traveled and diminutive Brahminy blind snake has made its way to Coffee County. These tiny burrowing snakes are native to Asia and Africa but have been found all over the world, including the southeastern United States. Sunday afternoon, the first specimen was reported locally.
Teri Day, who lives in the Baymeadows subdivision, was working in her garden when she dug up what appeared to be a blue-ish colored worm. Her son, Jones, picked it up and noticed it flicking its tongue like a snake. “She was just turning the soil getting ready to plant something and she noticed a blue worm,” says her husband, Trey.
Turns out, it wasn’t a worm at all.
In 2016, the Savannah Morning News reported a specimen in Savannah. The story also stated that a specimen had been found a year prior not far away from the second snake. An interesting fact about the Brahminy blind snakes is they are all females and self-fertilize by a process called parthenogenesis. That means that it only takes one snake to establish a population. At times they lay eggs, other times they give birth live. All are female and are genetically identical.
While the blind snakes are invasive, like the now widespread Mediterranean house geckos, they aren’t considered a threat to native wildlife. They’re small, reclusive, non-venomous and they’re generally found in populated areas not in the wilderness.
Blind snakes have been found in communities surrounding Coffee County but this appears to be the first one found here. They have been reported in Jesup, Waycross, Brunswick, Albany, Valdosta, and Macon.