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Long-nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei)

[/vc_column_text][gap size=”12px” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2108″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake. Photo by Young Cage[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2379″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]The “Clarus” form. Photo by Robert Bezy and Kathryn Bolles[/vc_column_text][gap size=”12px” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2380″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake eating Ornate Tree Lizard. Yuma Co, AZ. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][gap size=”12px” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2381″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Juvenile Goode’s Horned Lizard preyed upon by Giant Hairy Scorpion, Pinta Sands, Cabeza Prieta NWR. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][gap size=”12px” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2382″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake, aberrant pattern, near Gila Bend, AZ. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][gap size=”12px” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2385″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake with aberrant pattern. Photo by Young Cage[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2386″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake. Photo by Young Cage[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2383″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake. Photo by Young Cage[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2384″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Long-nosed Snake (clarus form), Photo by Young Cage[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2387″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]This unusually-patterned snake, from Hwy 80 in Cochise Co., somewhat resembles a Thornscrub Hook-nosed Snake. Photo by Young Cage[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Description

The Long-nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei) is a moderately long (< 1520 mm total length, but most are < 900 mm), relatively slender snake with an enlarged rostral scale, an undivided anal plate, mostly undivided subcaudals, and smooth dorsal scales in 23-25 rows at mid-body. The color pattern is quite variable, but in the 100-Mile Circle, the general configuration is about 17-51 dorsal dark blotches, saddles, or bands on the body with cream, yellowish-cream, red, red-orange, and or pinkish interspaces.  In one form, the dorsal dark blotch/saddle/band count is relatively high, those blotches/saddles/bands are relatively narrow, there is almost always some red or red-orange in the interspaces, the dorsum has many light speckles, particularly on the sides, and the venter is mostly unmarked. Another variation has less speckling, broader and fewer blotches/saddles/bands, and more dark patterning on the venter.  Some individuals of the latter form lack red or red-orange in the dorsal pattern – the interspaces between the dark blotches/saddles/bands are cream or white.  This form was once considered the subspecies L. l. clarus, but both clarus and the other form (once considered L. l. lecontei) have been documented from the same clutch of eggs (Shannon and Humphrey 1963); hence they are now considered pattern classes, rather than subspecies. As an example, a female found at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum laid three eggs on 18 June and all resulting progeny were quite different.  Interestingly, one of the hatchlings had a mid-dorsal dark stripe, one was a typical clarus form, and the third was a typical L. l. lecontei (McCrystal and Ivanyi 2005).  Unusual patterns of this snake are sometimes found in the 100-Mile Circle, some of which are illustrated in the photo gallery.

Four subspecies have previously been recognized.  Using scalation, color pattern, and morphometrics, Manier (2004) concluded that none of the three mainland subspecies warranted subspecific status.  Manier deferred judgment on the taxonomic status of R. l. etheridgei, restricted to Isla Cerralvo in the Sea of Cortés, until further specimens could be examined.

Superficially, the Long-nosed Snake resembles several other colorfully banded snakes in our area.  But most snakes in the family Colubridae have divided subcaudals. The Long-nosed Snake’s mostly undivided subcaudals, combined with an enlarged rostral scale and distinctive dorsal patterning, are unique in the 100-Mile Circle.

The Long-nosed Snake is widespread and usually common in the 100-Mile Circle below about 1560 m elevation (it has been found to 1900 m in New Mexico) in Sonoran and Chihuahuan desertscrub, semi-desert grassland, and Plains grassland.  It likely occurs into the lower elevational limits of oak savanna and, on the southern edge of Circle, in foothills thornscrub.  It is also somewhat tolerant of human disturbance, occurring on the edge of agriculture and in rural areas. The Long-nosed Snake is primarily a species of valleys and bajadas, rarely entering mountainous areas.  It was the third most abundant snake on paved roads west and south of Phoenix (Jones et al. 2011), and in southeastern Cochise County, it was the sixth most abundant snake on the Portal Road and the fifth most abundant snake on Highway 80 in semi-desert grassland and Chihuahuan desertscrub (Mendelson and Jennings 1992).  Few records exist for Plains grassland in the 100-Mile Circle, where the Long-nosed Snake appears to be uncommon.  Throughout its range, this species is found from northern California, Idaho, southern Colorado, and southwestern Kansas south to Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, and Nayarit, as well as the Baja California Peninsula.

This is a terrestrial snake, and a good burrower.  It is primarily nocturnal and is only rarely found abroad in the morning or late afternoon.  In the Circle, the Long-nosed Snake has been collected every month of the year except February, but most are found from April through September.  This species is perhaps more cold-tolerant than most of our other snakes, and can be found active on relatively cold, breezy nights.  Mating probably occurs in the spring and clutches of 3-11 (mean = 6.5) eggs are laid mostly in June and July.  An Arizona clutch laid in mid-August suggests two clutches may be laid in favorable years.  The eggs hatch 42-90 days later, and hatchlings are 166-244 mm total length.  Lizards are the most important prey items of the Long-nosed Snake; however, rodents, small snakes, reptile eggs, birds, grasshoppers, and centipedes have also been reported in the diet. This snake will sometimes wrap coils around its prey, either to constrict or to simply hold prey items while they are swallowed. Blood is sometimes exuded from the cloaca and nose when captured.

The Long-nosed Snake is listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN’s 2013 Red List.  There is no reason to believe it has declined in the 100-Mile Circle, except in areas of heavy urbanization and intensive agriculture.  With a valid Arizona hunting license, four Long-nosed Snakes may be taken per year or held in possession, alive or dead, except that take of these snakes is prohibited without special authorization in protected areas such as Saguaro National Park and National Wildlife Refuges.

Suggested Reading:

Brennan, T.C., and A.T. Holycross. 2006. Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ.

Ernst, C.H., and E.M. Ernst. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.

Jones, T.R., R.D. Babb, F.R. Hensley, C. LiWanPo, and B.K. Sullivan. 2011. Sonoran Desert snake communities at two sites: Concordance and effects of increased road traffic. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 6:61-71.

Manier, M.K. 2004. Geographic variation in the Long-nosed Snake, Rhinocheilus lecontei (Colubridae): Beyond the subspecies debate. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 83(1):65-85.

McCrystal, H.K., and C.S. Ivanyi. 2005. Striped neonate with additional notes on polymorphism in the western Long-nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei lecontei). Southwestern Naturalist 50(4):494-496.

Medica, P.A. 1975. Rhinocheilus, R. lecontei. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (175):1-4.

Mendelson, J.R. III, and W. B. Jennings. 1992. Shifts in the relative abundance of snakes in a desert grassland. Journal of Herpetology 26(1):38-45.

Shannon F.A., and F.L. Humphrey. 1963. Analysis of color pattern polymorphism in the snake Rhinocheilus lecontei. Herpetologica 19: 153–160.

Author: Jim Rorabaugh

For additional information on this species, please see the following volume and pages in the Sonoran Herpetologist: 2005 Aug:86-89.

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