California Reptiles & Amphibians

Charina umbratica - Southern Rubber Boa



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Range in California: Green

Red: Coastal Rubber Boa






Adult, San Bernardino County Adult, San Bernardino County
Juvenile, 6,200 ft.
San Bernardino County
Adult, San Bernardino County
Adult, 6,100 ft.
San Bernardino County
Juvenile, San Bernardino County


 
 
 
Adult, 6,100 ft.
San Bernardino County
Habitat,6,200 ft.
San Bernardino County
Habitat, 5,800 ft.
San Bernardino County
Habitat,6,200 ft.
San Bernardino County
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.

Taxonomy
Family Boidae Boas and Pythons
Genus Charina Rubber Boas
Species


umbratica Southern Rubber Boa 
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

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

Alternate Names
Charina bottae - Rubber Boa
Charina bottae umbratica

Related or Similar California Snakes
C. bottae - Northern Rubber Boa

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.

Conservation Status

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.


Organization
Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA) ST Threatened
California Department of Fish and Game None
Bureau of Land Management None
USDA Forest Service USFS:S Sensitive
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks G5 Secure
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List




None

 

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