California Reptiles & Amphibians

Rhinocheilus lecontei - Long-nosed Snake

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Adult, San Diego County. (Found moving in daylight on a cool, cloudy day.)

Adult, San Diego County

Adult, coastal San Diego County
© Aaron Wells

Adult, Alameda County

Adult, Lassen County © Loren Prins

Adult, Alameda County

Adult, Bakersfield, Kern County
© Patrick Briggs

"Clarus" phase adult with little red, San Diego County

Adult, Imperial County

"Clarus" phase adult lacking red, San Diego County © Dick Bartlett

Adult eating a Great Basin Whiptail, Riverside County © Lynette Schimming. More pictures can be seen here.

Anerythristic adult, Inyo County
© Chris Morrison

Chad M. Lane found this adult Long-nosed Snake in Alameda County eating another adult Long-nosed Snake. A report of the sighting was published in Herp Review in 2009 as the first documented occurance of cannibalistic behavior in this species,
© Chad M. Lane

Habitat

San Diego County coastal sage habitat

Habitat, San Diego County

Habitat, Riverside County

Habitat, 1,800 ft., Alameda County

Habitat, San Diego County

Short Video

Watching this short video you can get an idea of how this fairly fast snake moves.

Description

Nonvenomous

Considered harmless to humans.

Size

16 - 60 inches long (40 - 152 cm). Most snakes seen are 16- 30 inches long (40 - 76 cm). Hatchlings from 7 - 11 inches (18 - 28 cm).

Appearance

A slender snake with smooth scales and a head barely wider than the body which has a long pointed snout with a countersunk lower jaw. Most snakes are tricolored, with a saddled pattern. The ground color is white which is usually heavily speckled with black and red from the alternating red and black saddles. The saddles do not ring the body. The underside is cream or yellow with no pattern. Some snakes have no red. These are considered the "clarus" phase, and at one time were regarded as a distinct subspecies, Rhinocheilus lecontei clarus.

Behavior

Crepuscular and nocturnal. Occasionallly found out at mid day. Relatively cold-tolerant, especially in the northernmost part of its range. Good burrowers, spending much time underground, often in lizard and mammal burrows. Commonly found on roads at night.

When threatened, may vibrate the tail, writhe the body, and evert the vent, excreting blood and cloacal contents.

Diet

Eats primarily lizards (especially whiptails), also lizard eggs, small snakes, small mammals, nestling birds, possibly bird eggs, and insects. Small prey is overpowered, large prey is killed by constriction.

Reproduction

Lays eggs June to August.

Range

In California, occurs throughout the south coast and deserts, north through the central valley and Coast range, excluding the coast, north to the Sutter Buttes, Sutter County. Not recorded from the coast north of Santa Barbara County, but possibly present. Also ranges north in the deserts east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains as far as the Honey Lake Basin in Lassen County. Ranges south of California in northern Baja California, east into Nevada, Utah, Arizona, barely into New Mexico, and south into Mexico. An isolated population occurs in Idaho.

Habitat

Arid and semi-arid deserts, grasslands, shrublands, and prairies. Sea level to 6,200 ft. (1,900 m).

Taxonomic Notes

Related to and sometimes similar in appearance to the California Kingsnake. Long-nosed snakes have most of the caudal scales in a single row, while Kingsnakes have caudal scales in a double row.

Two subspecies of R. lecontei were once recognized, R. l. lecontei, and R. l. tesselatus - Texas Long-nosed Snake.

Manier (2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 83:65-85) using morphological analysis, concluded that no subspecies of Rhinocheilus lecontei should be recognized. R. l. tesselatus and R. l. lecontei become R. lecontei.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Rhinocheilus	Long-nosed Snakes
Species	lecontei	Long-nosed Snake
Original Description
Rhinocheilus lecontei - Baird and Girard, 1853 - Cat. N. Amer. Rept., Pt. 1, p. 120 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Rhinocheilus - Greek - rhinos nose or snout and cheilo - lip - "Rostral prominent forwards, rounded beneath, tapering upwards" lecontei - honors Le Conte, John L. from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Rhinocheeilus lecontei lecontei - Western Long-nosed Snake
Related or Similar California Snakes
C. o. annulata - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake C. o. occipitalis - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake C. o. talpina - Nevada Shovel-nosed Snake S. s. semiannulata - Variable Groundsnake L. g. californiae - California Kingsnake
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. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997. 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.

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. This animal is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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