Not only does this small snake spend most of its life underground, hiding in crevices or burrowing beneath rocks, only about 26 individuals are known to exist.

These survivors are confined to what’s left of southern Florida’s pine rocklands and hardwood hammocks.

Until recently, no one even knew what the elusive rim rock crowned snake (Tantilla oolitica) ate, despite being first described in 1966. In fact, no one has seen head or tail of it, alive or dead, since 2018. This February, that dry spell came to an end. A visitor to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park stumbled upon a dead rim rock crowned snake while walking along a trail on Key Largo.

“It’s extremely rare to find specimens that died while eating prey, and given how rare this species is, I would never have predicted finding something like this. We were all totally flabbergasted.”

Other types of crowned snakes also eat giant centipedes and other potentially dangerous prey, including scorpions, but this is the first food record of any kind for this particular species.