Range in California: Green
Red: Coastal Rubber Boa
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| Adult, San Bernardino County |
Adult, San Bernardino County |
Juvenile, 6,200 ft.
San Bernardino County |
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| Adult, San Bernardino County |
Adult, 6,100 ft.
San Bernardino County |
Juvenile, San Bernardino County
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Adult, 6,100 ft.
San Bernardino County
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Habitat,6,200 ft.
San Bernardino County |
Habitat, 5,800 ft.
San Bernardino County |
Habitat,6,200 ft.
San Bernardino County |
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Description |
| Nonvenomous |
| Considered harmless to humans. |
| Size |
| Typical size of adults is small - 11 - 15 inches. |
| Appearance |
A small constrictor with a stout body and smooth shiny small-scaled loose and wrinkled skin which gives the snake a rubbery look and feel. Uniform in dorsal color - light brown, dark brown, pink, tan, or olive-green above, and yellow, orange, or cream colored below. Usually no pattern below, but sometimes there is dark mottling. Young snakes are pink or tan, and can be brightly-colored. Eyes are small with vertically elliptical pupils.
The tail is short and blunt and looks like a head. When threatened, the snake hides its head in its coiled body, and elevates the tail to fool an attacker into attacking the tail. Snakes with scarred tails are common. |
| Behavior |
| Nocturnal and crepuscular, sometimes active in daylight. Sometimes active in weather that would be too cold for most reptiles, with surface temperatures in the 50s. A good burrower, climber and swimmer. Often found under logs, boards and other debris, sometimes on roads at dusk. |
| Diet |
| Eats small mammals, birds, and, lizards. |
| Reproduction |
| Breeds from April to June, bearing 2 - 8 live young in late summer or early autumn. |
| Range |
Endemic to California.
Found only in a few disjunct areas in montane southern California; the San Bernardino, San jacinto, and Tehachapi Mountains. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits Oak-conifer and mixed-conifer forests at elevations between roughly 5,000 to 8,200 ft. where rocks and logs or other debris provide shelter. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| Formerly, one species with three subspecies was recognized. Some herpetologists recognize only one species of Charina, with two subspecies - C. b. bottae and C. b.umbratica, or without any subspecies. Others recognize two species, as we do here - C. bottae, and C. umbratica. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Common in its range, this snake is considered a threatened species due to development and habitat degredation in its limited range. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Boidae |
Boas and Pythons |
| Genus |
Charina |
Rubber Boas |
Species
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umbratica |
Southern Rubber Boa |
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Original Description |
Charina bottae - (Blainville, 1835) - Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, Vol. 4, p. 289, pl. 26, figs. 1, 1B
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Charina - Greek -charieis - graceful, delightful
umbratica - ?
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Charina bottae - Rubber Boa
Charina bottae umbratica
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
C. bottae - Northern Rubber Boa
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press.
Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
Thelander, Carl G., editor in chief. Life on the Edge - A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources - Wildlife. Berkeley: Bio Systems Books, 1994.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
ST |
Threatened |
| California Department of Fish and Game |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
USFS:S |
Sensitive |
| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G5 |
Secure |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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None |
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