Hi Andy,

There is so little known about Hypsiglena in WA, so any report
(especially a new County record) is exciting. Judging solely
on my experiences with this species in WA, AZ, and CA, I
would say that it is safe to assume that Hypsiglena is uncommon
to rare in numbers in WA, as opposed to merely secretive. I
have found many in AZ and CA with virtually no effort, yet I
have spent hundreds of hours in prime habitat, well within the
species documented range, morning noon and night, spring,
summer, and fall, and have only found one live specimen near
Quincy. I have also found one dead on road (DOR) in Klickitat
Co. near Lyle.

These snakes are opisthoglyphic (rear-fanged) and use their mild
venom to subdue their primarily lizard prey. They probably
encounter most of their food under rocks or in rock crevices
where the lizards are seeking refuge over night. They may also
be crepuscular which many lizards are as well.

Thanks for the report, Andy.

Steve Z
Renton, WA

>Tweeters,
>
>My brother, Mike Stepniewski just found a small (8") road killed Night
>Snake (Hypsiglena torquata) on a paved road paralleling the Union Gap
Canal
>north of Wapato WA (T12N R19E Sec. 26). According to the GAP volume on
>Reptiles and Amphibians, the Rattlesnake Hills a quarter mile north of
here
>are modeled "Core" habitat, but apparently no records are mapped for
Yakima
>County (also checked Nussbaum et al. Amphibians and Reptiles of the
Pacific
>Northwest).
>
>Juvenile dispersal from suitable habitat might explain this snakes
>occurrence in seemingly atypical habitat.
>
>I know this is an off-topic subject, but I've noted some herptelogical
>posts on Tweeters before, so know there are folks interested in these
>creatures on Tweeters. Besides, these Night Snakes are
>interesting...apparently they are mildly venemous, are never seen abroad
>during the day (have vertical pupils), and like lizards as prey. But,
>aren't lizards mostly diurnal? So...when to predator and prey get to meet
>each other? As lizards are also fairly scarce (both numerically and as
>percentage of biomass) at this latitude; this might explain why this snake
>is at the edge of its range here. >