Long-nosed Snake and Checkered Garter Snake
“Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” (Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Arizona is home to almost five dozen species of snakes. This may be frightening to some, but exciting to others. Here at Tucson Wildlife Center, we like to share our reptile patients with the public in hopes of fostering an appreciation for these truly amazing animals. This week, TWC’s wildlife care team treated a hatchling long-nosed snake with a scab over one eye and a checkered garter snake with a sizable laceration.
Long-nosed snakes are excellent burrowers in sandy soil but can also retreat under rocks or into rodent burrows if necessary. Active primarily at night, they feed on many things including lizards, lizard eggs, small snakes, small mammals, and sometimes birds. These snakes are non-venomous and do not bite when disturbed.*
Checkered garter snakes are found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America. These snakes are good swimmers and generally found near bodies of water, feeding on fish, frogs, toads, and worms. Lizards and small mice can also be part of their diet. The garter snake habitat is disappearing throughout the Sonoran Desert due to habitat destruction and predation by introduced species such as bullfrogs. **
* https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_longnose_snake.php
** https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_garter_snake.php If you would like to help patients like these snakes, please click the donate button below.
Another way you can contribute is to visit our “wish list” on Amazon by clicking on the Amazon Wish List button below. We appreciate it, as will all the wild animals in our care!
