REPTILIA (Reptiles) SQUAMATA (PART-SNAKES) (Snakes) COLUBRIDAE (Harmless Egg-laying Snakes)
GLOSSY SNAKE
Arizona elegans
Kennicott (in Baird), 1859: 18
ĕr-ĭ-zō'-nă — ĕl-ē'-găns
Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: S5 - Secure
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None
Diagnosis:
27-36 inches. It has smooth, glossy scales and a light brown or off-white
ground color. There are 50 or more mid-dorsal brown blotches with dark outlines. Smaller
blotches alternating with the dorsal blotches occur on both sides. The belly is unmarked
and whitish. The anal plate is single. There is a dark line running from the jaw
to the rear of the eye and usually across the top of the head connecting the two eyes. The
head is not much wider than the neck. The male has a slightly longer tail than a female of
the same size.
A Bullsnake or a Great Plains Ratsnake has keeled scales. A kingsnake has a patterned belly. A Great Plains Ratsnakehas a patterned belly and divided anal plates.
Distribution:
Sandy, open areas in the western third of Oklahoma.
(
,
Museum Voucher) (
,
Observation) (
,
Literature Record) (
,
iNat Record), (
Fossil)
Open icons are questionable records; Click on a marker to view details.
Export Google Earth (.kml)
-
Occurrence Summary:
-
257
Records
-
213
Museum Vouchers
-
44
Other Observations
Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Alfalfa (22); Beaver (13); Beckham (3); Blaine (2); Caddo (2); Canadian (2); Cimarron (25); Cleveland (10); Comanche (2); Cotton (1); Custer (2); Dewey (4); Ellis (16); Garfield (4); Grant (3); Greer (13); Harmon (8); Harper (18); Jackson (1); Kingfisher (12); Kiowa (1); Logan (4); Major (11); Marshall (1); Pawnee (1); Roger Mills (4); Texas (22); Unknown (5); Washita (3); Woods (11); Woodward (31);
Natural History:
Eats lizards, rodents, and chicks of ground-nesting birds. Rodents make up the bulk of
the diet of this snake in Kansas and likely do in Oklahoma.
Remarks:
This species has a mild disposition and if handled may u·y to flail, but won't
try to bite. Th.is snake is active in the evening and at night. It spends its days under rocks or
in burrows. The upper jaw is longer than the lower jaw, which is an adaptation to prevent
dirt from getting in its mouth while it is burrowing. When disturbed, thee snake produces a
rattling sound by vibrating the tail against the ground or dried vegetation. This species constricts its prey. The female lays eggs. The name elegans refers to theelegant color pattern of
this snake.
Account Last Updated:
9/22/2019 8:37:27 PM - page took 0.1718833 seconds to load.