Night Snake
(Hypsiglena torquata)
|
|
|
Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata) |
"Texas Night Snake" Color Photograph courtest of Jack Goldfarb
"Texas Night Snake" Color Photograph: U.S. Geological Survey
"Spotted Night Snake" Color Photograph: Chris Brown, U.S. Geological Survey
"Spotted Night Snake" Color Photograph: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
"Desert Night Snake" Color Photograph: U.S. Forest Service
|
Arizona elegans and Arizona occidentalis The glossy Snakes have a superficial similarity to the Night Snake. However their pupils are round, not linear, and they have a distinct black line running from the rear margin of the eye to the rear margin of the jaw.
Trimorphodon biscutatus The Lyre Snake also has a linear pupil ("cat-eye"), but can be distinguished from the Night Snake by the presence of a conspicuous triangular brown marking on the top of the head. Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata) Identification: Snake 12 to 26 inches in length. Body slender, color varying from yellow-brown to gray. Dorsal surface with a series of irregular rectangular blotches, although the blotches are commonly broken and slightly offset. Side with two offset rows of spots. Eye with a elongate, vertical black pupil. A dark band stretches from the eye to the margin of the jaw. Upper lip scales white. A large, dark blotch on each side of the neck, and sometimes a dark central, elongate blotch at the back of the head. Belly white or cream, unmarked. Scales smooth and anal plate divided. Geographical Variation: Four subspecies are recognized in the CNAH checklist of North American snakes. These populations are not well differentiated and will not be covered here except to list them.
Range (see map below): The Night Snake is widely distributed in the western and southwestern United States. It ranges from central and western Texas and Oklahoma westward through New Mexico, Arizona and California northward through Nevada as far north as southern Washington. Habitat: The Night Snake occupies a wide variety of habitats including shortgrass prairie, chaparral, brushlands of all kinds, montane meadows, desert, and so forth. Food: Lizards, small snakes, frogs, and salamanders. Behavior: The Night Snake, as the name suggests, is nocturnal. During the day it may be found under rocks and plant debris such as branches and fallen brush. This snake species incapacitates its prey with a mildly poisonous venom secreted by enlarged teeth near the back of the jaw. Reproduction: The clutch consists of 4 to 6 eggs laid from late April to early July.
|
Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata)
Similar Species: glossy snakes (Arizona elegans + occidentalis) Lyre Snake (Trimorphodon biscutataus) |
Similar Species: |
 |
