Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus

Taxobox
name = Texas Long-nosed Snake

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Colubridae
genus = "Rhinocheilus"
species = "R. lecontei"
subspecies = "R. l. tessellatus"
trinomial = "Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus"
trinomial_authority = Garman, 1883

The Texas Long-nosed Snake ("Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus") is a subspecies of non-venomous colubrid snake found in the United States, primarily in Texas, but also in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas, as well as northern Mexico.

Description

The Texas Long-nosed Snake is a tri-color snake, with a cream colored or white body, overlaid with black blotches and red between the black. It gives them an appearance vaguely similar to that of the coral snake. They have an elongated snout, which gives them their common name. They grow to approximately 30 inches in length. In some western localities their red coloration can be greatly reduced, giving them a black and white banded appearance, and other localities the red appears more orange or even pink in color.

Behavior

Long-nosed Snakes are shy, nocturnal burrowing snakes. They feed on lizards and amphibians, sometimes smaller snakes and, infrequently, rodents. They are oviparous, laying clutches of 4-9 eggs in the early summer, which hatch out in the late summer, or early fall. They are not apt to bite, but can and release a foul smelling musk, or blood from their cloaca as a defense mechanism if harassed.

Conservation status

The Texas Long-nosed Snake holds no federal conservation status and no status through most of its range, but it is considered to be vulnerable in Kansas and Oklahoma, and critically endangered in Colorado. Primary threats are from habitat destruction.

References

* [http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=rhinocheilus+lecontei NatureServe Explorer: "Rhinocheilus lecontei"]

External links

* [http://chrish.fieldherpers.com/bvsnakes/rlecontei.html Snakes of the Brazos Valley: Texas Long-nosed Snake]
* [http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals/species/4597.html Yahooligans! Animals: Long-nosed Snake]