The smooth earth snake (Virginia valeriae) is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake native to the eastern half of the United States, from Texas and Iowa to New Jersey and Florida. It is a small, fossorial species which spends most of its time buried in loose soil or leaf litter, and eats primarily earthworms and other soft-bodied arthropods. The epithet valeriae is in honor of Valeria Biddle Blaney, who collected the first specimen in Kent County, Maryland, and was a first cousin of Spencer Fullerton Baird.[1]