Western Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum testaceus)
Description: Western coachwhips are typically shades of patterned brown but can show signs of yellow, gray, black, or red. The red color of some snakes is the inspiration for the common nickname of “red racer”. Male and female adults are indistinguishable but young coachwhips are usually a solid tan or brown.
Habitat: The habitat for this species includes flat or hilly shortgrass prairies, sandhills, canyon slopes with scattered pinon, pine and juniper, open riparian woodlands, and mosaics of prairie and agricultural land. Coachwhips can also be found in dry grasslands, savannahs, scrublands, or deserts. Elsewhere, they have been found to prefer chaparral, mesquite-creosote brush, thornbush, pine and palmetto flatwoods, and pine-juniper and oak woodlands. Coachwhips use the scattered vegetation and leaf litter for both foraging and escape defense behavior. The soils that a Coachwhip is found on can vary from loose sand to solid loam. Rocks do not need to be present for this species to persist. Some Coachwhips may occasionally spend the night in vegetation aboveground when conditions are warm enough.
Range: USA (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma); Type locality: headwaters of Arkansas River near the Rocky Mountains =junction of Turkey Creek with the Arkansas River, 12 mi W Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado.
Diet: Western coachwhip snakes eat a wide variety of prey including insects, amphibians, lizards, snakes, birds, and rodents. In particular, coachwhips are able to chase down and capture other snakes and lizards.
Reproduction: Western coachwhip snakes breed once a year sometime between June and August. Males become territorial during the breeding season while seeking females, showing aggressive behavior such as flicking of the tongue to claim a mate. A female will breed with more than one male during the season. This prompts some males to defend a female after mating to keep her from breeding with other males.
Females will lay up to 24 oblong white, granular-looking eggs (average of 11) in loose soil, piles of leaf litter, hollows logs, and abandoned burrows of small animals. Once egg laying is completed, she will leave the site. Eggs hatch about two months later. The hatchlings are not dependent upon a parent.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its extremely wide distribution, presumed large population, no major threats, and because its population is not currently in decline.
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.
){kind=link}
){kind=link}