Herpetofauna - One Life's List

Mountain Patchnose Snake
Salvadora grahamiae grahamiae

Val Verde Co., Texas. May 19, 1999.
 
We found this snake crossing the Pandale Dirt Road at dusk.  I jumped out of the window (I was riding on the door with the window rolled down, hangin onto the luggage rack) and slapped hands on this gem before it could streak off into the thornscrub.  What pretty little snakes they are; this one did not offer to bite.  Note the upturned and enlarged rostral scale, useful, perhaps, for poking around in burrows and cracks and crevices in search of prey.  They are related to the racers (Coluber) and as such are fast-moving and active during the day. They primarily eat lizards, birds, and young rodents.

The Mountain Patchnose pictured below was found on the western side of the Huachuca Mountains in Arizona.  Note the difference in ground color.


 
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