Ficimia streckeri
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| Ficimia streckeri Taylor, 1931 |
The Mexican Hooknose Snake or Tamaulipan Hooknose Snake (Ficimia streckeri) is a small species of colubrid snake found primarily in the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi and Puebla, but its range extends as far north as the United States, in southern Texas. The epithet streckeri is in honor of the American naturalist John Kern Strecker, Jr.
[edit] Description
The Mexican Hooknose Snake is capable of attaining lengths of 5 to 11 inches. It is typically brown or gray in color, with as many as 60 brown or brown-green blotches down the back which are elongated to almost appear as stripes. Its underside is white or cream colored. Their most distinctive feature is an upturned snout, much like hognose snakes, which gives them their common name.
[edit] Behavior
The Mexican Hooknose Snake is mostly nocturnal, and its diet consists primarily of spiders and centipedes. They inhabit woodlands along the Rio Grande river plain, near natural and man-made sources of water. It is fairly slow moving and harmless to humans. Its primary form of defense is making a popping sound by expanding its cloaca when harassed or handled. Mexican Hooknose Snakes are oviparous.
