Ruthven's Whipsnake (Masticophis schotti ruthveni)
Description: Ground color of this long (to 5+ feet), slender, alert, and agile brushland snake is gray to blue-gray. Several rows of dorsal scales have an almost hidden cream spot on the anterior (attached) edge. Faded stripes can be seen on anterior sides. The throat is white with orange spotting. The belly is multicolored—yellowish anteriorly, blue-gray at midbody, orange posteriorly, and red on the underside of the tail. This snake is an agile climber and may often be seen basking while elevated in the branches of a shrub. Scales smooth in 15 rows. Faded stripes; dorsal scales having light edges will help with identification.
Habitat: Prefers sandy, dry, open lots, fields, and woodlands. Often seen along grassy, shrub-edged roadsides.
Range: occurs only in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Found in these States:
TX
Diet: Young eat mainly lizards; adults eat mainly lizards and small mammals; also eats insects and small birds.
Reproduction: Eggs may be laid in abandoned small mammal burrows.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the wide range, and relatively stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
»» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Masticophis
»» Species: Masticophis schotti - Schott's Whipsnake
»» Subspecies: Masticophis schotti ruthveni - Ruthven's Whipsnake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Masticophis schotti", 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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