Soil-crack whipsnake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Demansia rimicola |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Demansia
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| Species: |
rimicola
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The soil-crack whip snake or crack-dwelling whipsnake (Demansia rimicola) is a species of venomous snake that belongs to the family Elapidae. It has a mild venom.
About the Soil-Crack Whip Snake
This snake has fangs at the front of its mouth. It usually grows to about 49 centimeters long. The soil-crack whip snake is thin, and its body can be grey or olive-brown. It has a dark band behind its head and a bright orange-red belly.
Where It Lives
The soil-crack whip snake lives in the far northwestern part of New South Wales, Australia. You can find it near Tibooburra and in Sturt National Park.
Its Home and Habits
This snake is mostly active during the day. It likes to hide in places like flat rocks, fallen logs, cracks in the soil, clumps of grass, and animal burrows. It prefers to live in open forests, woodlands, or shrublands that have lots of grass and bushes. The soil-crack whip snake hunts and eats small lizards and other snakes.
Protecting This Snake
The soil-crack whip snake is a species that needs our help because its numbers are decreasing. When land is used for grazing animals or farming, it can destroy their homes, like soil cracks and fallen logs. Wild foxes and cats also hunt these snakes, which is a big problem. Even though they are not yet critically endangered, we need to learn more about these threats to protect them.
To help this snake, we can do a few things:
- Controlling animals like goats, foxes, and cats can help protect the snakes. Goats eat the plants the snakes need, and foxes and cats hunt them.
- To help their homes grow back, farmers can reduce the number of animals grazing or stop grazing in certain areas. Farming should also be limited near places where these snakes live.
- It's important to keep the grasslands where they live healthy. This means letting the grass grow fully, including setting seeds and forming clumps.
- We should not remove sticks, leaves, small bushes, or fallen logs. These are important hiding places for the snakes. We also need to protect plants like Triodia and any nesting sites or food sources.
These steps are very important to help the soil-crack whip snake, especially since it is still considered a vulnerable species.
