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Home »» Snakes »» Colubridae (Colubrids) »» Green Rat Snake (Senticolis triaspis)


Green Rat Snake (Senticolis triaspis)STATUS





Description: A long (up to 63 inches total length), plain green, yellow-green, or olive snake with a plain cream to light yellow underside. Young are gray to gray-green with prominent gray-brown dorsal blotches. As the snake ages the blotches begin to fade and the snakes coloration becomes more green. The dorsal blotches eventually disappear into the green background coloration. The dorsal scales are mildly keeled. The head is relatively long and narrow and is clearly distinct from the thin neck. The pupils are round. Females usually grow to a longer length than males.


Habitat: Habitats include woodlands and chaparral of rocky mountain canyons near streams in the United States, montane mesophytic forests along the slopes of the Mexican highlands and in Central America, and xeric forest in western and southern Mexico. Sometimes this snake can be found in agricultural areas or in buildings in towns. It is terrestrial and arboreal and uses rock crevices or underground burrows as shelter.


Range: Senticolis triaspis is well distributed in the Baboquivari, Pajarito, Atascosa, Santa Rita, Empire, Patagonia, Chiricahua, Swisshelm, Pedregosa, and Peloncillo mountains of southeastern Arizona.


Found in these States: AZ | NM


Diet: Senticolis triaspis consumes small animals such as lizards, birds, and bats, killing them by deadly constriction.


Reproduction: During reproduction, an adult female of S. triaspis is able to lay up to 9 eggs in a clutch.


Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a threatened category.


Subspecies: Three, with just one found in the United States:
   Northern Green Rat Snake - (Senticolis triaspis intermedia)
   Unnamed Greet Rat Snake - (Senticolis triaspis mutabilis)
   Yucatán Green Ratsnake - (Senticolis triaspis triaspis)


Taxonomy:

»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
   »» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
     »» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
       »» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
         »» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
           »» Suborder: Serpentes
             »» Superfamily: Colubroidea
               »» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
                   »» Genus: Senticolis
                     »» Species: Senticolis triaspis - Green Rat Snake

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Senticolis", 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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U.S. Guide to Venomous Snakes and Their Mimics     Venomous Snakebite in the Western United States     Venomous Snakes Of The Southeast     The 10 Most Dangerous Snakes in the United States and Canada



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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 
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