Big Bend Blackhead Snake (Tantilla cucullata)
Description: A Tantilla with an almost uniformly black head, the pigmentation including the chin and labials and terminating 3 to 4 scales posterior to the parietal; no light nuchal collar; mental barely in contact with anterior chin-shields; ventrals 167, subcaudals 82
Habitat: Habitats include steep-sided rocky canyons with pinyon pine, oak, and juniper; hilly grassland with juniper and cholla; streamside woodland with creosote-bush, acacia, yucca, and grasses; and low hills of arid grassland with creosote-bush, yucca, ocotillo, and agave; at elevations of 1,180 to 1,712 meters. This secretive, fossorial snake is usually under cover, underground, or in crevices; it may travel on the surface at night in summer when surface moisture is present.
Range: The range encompasses the Trans-Pecos region of western Texas; from near Shafter (Presidio County), through the Big Bend region (Davis and Chisos mountains) and east to the Dolan Falls area of Val Verde County. Small range in the Trans-Pecos region of western Texas; trend unknown but presumably stable.
Found in these States:
TX
Diet: Eats small centipedes and slugs.
Reproduction: Oviparous. Lays clutch of 1 to 3 eggs in summer.
Status: Listed as Least Concern since, although its currently known extent of occurrence is not much more than 20,000 kmē, it occurs in an area of extensive, suitable habitat which appears not to be under significant threat, it has a presumed large population, and it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
  »» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Tantilla
»» Species: Tantilla cucullata - Big Bend Blackhead Snake
This article uses material from the NatureServe article "Trans-Pecos Black-headed Snake", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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