Central Texas Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus girardi)
Description: Ground color of this long (to 5+ feet), slender, alert, and agile brushland snake is black dorsally and brownish-black laterally. The throat is white. The belly is white anteriorly becoming pinkish posteriorly and bright pink beneath the tail. 4 white stripes, 2 dorsolateral and 2 lateral. This snake is an agile climber. They often “periscope when hunting.
Habitat: This is a scrub and brush dwelling desert snake. Capable of climbing, it will promptly do so if seeking prey or an avenue of escape.
Range: Occurs in central Texas and westward throughout the Trans-Pecos region of the state.
Found in these States:
TX
Diet: Prey of this snake includes nestlings of small mammals, birds, and lizards.
Reproduction: Oviparous. Hatchlings look much like the adults. Eggs usually are laid in abandoned small mammal burrows (sometimes communal with conspecifics or with other snake species).
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large and probably relatively stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size. There are no major threats known.
»» 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 taeniatus - Striped Whipsnakes
»» Subspecies: Masticophis taeniatus girardi - Central Texas Whipsnake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Striped whipsnake", 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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