Species Fact Profile: Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni)

Louisiana Pine Snake

Pituopis ruthveni (Stull, 1929)

Range: South-Central United States (west-central Louisiana and east Texas)

Habitat: Longleaf Pine Forests with sandy, well-drained soils and grassy understory

Diet: Rodents (especially Baird's pocket gopher), Rabbits, Ground-Nesting Birds, Amphibians, Eggs

Social Grouping: Solitary

Reproduction: Sexual maturity is reached at about 1.2 meter in length at about 3 years of age.   Eggs are laid 21 days after mating, followed by a 60 day incubation period.  Have the smallest clutches (1-5, but usually 3-4) and largest eggs (12 centimeters by 5 centimeters) of any North American snake; also has the largest hatchlings, at 45-55 centimeters at 107 grams

Lifespan: 20 Years

Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered

• Body length typically 1.2-1.5 meters, through record length is 1.7 meters
• Background coloration is buff to yellow, with dark brown or black splotches along the body, “busier” around the neck, the pattern becoming more netlike down the body length.  Belly is predominately buff or yellow, marked with black
• Background coloration is buff to yellow, with dark brown or black splotches along the body, “busier” around the neck, the pattern becoming more netlike down the body length.  Belly is predominately buff or yellow, marked with black·         
• Non-venomous.  Prey is not killed by constriction, but rather by pressing it up against the walls of its burrows and crushing it.  
• When provoked and unable to retreat, may imitate a rattlesnake, hissing loudly, flattening its head, and buzzing its tail
• Spend up to 60% of their lives underground, when underground, primarily take refuge in gopher burrows.    Also use gopher burrows for hibernation sites.  Very well adapted in fire – quickly move into gopher burrows in presence of fire, all snakes monitored in sites of controlled burns have survived with no damage
• Move short distance (less than 10 meters per day) in the late morning and mid-afternoon, coming to the surface to forage or to thermoregulate.  No seasonal migrations observed, but in Louisiana snakes observed making relatively long distance moves once a year, males in late spring or early summer, females in late summer.  Seasonally are most active in spring and fall, least active in summer and winter
• Primary threat to survival is degradation of habitat and alteration of native fire cycles.  Has disappeared from several of the counties and parishes where it once occurred.  Longleaf pines have been replaced with faster growing loblolly pines for forest management; loblollies do not allow as much sunshine to reach the forest floor, which alters the habitat, whereas fire reduction has reduced the available microhabitat for the pocket gophers the snake eats
• Captive-breeding and reintroduction program in progress, with the first snakes released back into the wild in 2010.  The restoration plan also calls for prescribed burning and replanting of longleaf pine forests, forming partnerships with local landowners for conservation easements