Slowinski's corn snake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Slowinski's corn snake |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Pantherophis
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| Species: |
slowinskii
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The Slowinski's corn snake (Pantherophis slowinskii) is a type of snake that is not venomous. It belongs to the family called Colubridae. This snake lives naturally in Louisiana, eastern Texas, and Arkansas.
Contents
What is a Slowinski's Corn Snake?
The Slowinski's corn snake is a medium-sized snake. It has a grayish-brown color. You can spot it by its large, chocolate-brown blotches. These blotches often have a black border. A special mark that looks like a spearhead is on its head.
How to Identify This Snake
The belly of this snake has a black and white checkered pattern. This pattern looks a lot like corn kernels, which is how its close relative, the corn snake, got its name!
This snake might look a bit like the prairie kingsnake. But the spearhead mark on the Slowinski's corn snake's head usually helps you tell them apart. Its body is rounded on top, with steep sides and a flat belly.
Young Slowinski's corn snakes have a dark bar through each eye. This bar goes past the jawline and onto the neck. This helps tell them apart from young western rat snakes. In western rat snakes, the bar stops right at the jawline.
Snake Behavior and Habits
The Slowinski's corn snake is active mostly at night. This means it is a nocturnal animal. It is also quite secretive. Like its relatives, it is a great climber. It likely spends a lot of time in trees. These habits might be why people don't see them very often. Being active at night also helps it avoid dangers, like hawks that hunt during the day.
Temperament and Diet
Slowinski's corn snakes are usually very calm. They rely on their camouflage to hide from danger. They rarely bite people.
These snakes mainly eat small mammals and birds. When they catch their prey, they squeeze it tightly. This is called constricting. Then they swallow their food whole.
Life Cycle of the Snake
Slowinski's corn snakes likely follow a similar pattern to other rat snakes. They probably hibernate through the winter months. They would then breed in the spring. In the summer, the females would lay their eggs.
Where Do Slowinski's Corn Snakes Live?
We don't know exactly how many Slowinski's corn snakes there are. In Arkansas, it seems they are very rare. They have only been found in a few places in the southeastern part of the state. One known spot is in Drew County.
