Masticophis flagellum
Masticophis flagellum | |
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Juvenile western coachwhip Masticophis flagellum testaceus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Masticophis |
Species: | M. flagellum
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Binomial name | |
Masticophis flagellum (Shaw, 1802)
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Synonyms[2] | |
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Masticophis flagellum is a
Taxonomy
Etymology
The generic name, Masticophis, is derived from Greek mastix, meaning "whip", and ophis, meaning "snake", in reference to the braided appearance of the tail.[3] The subspecific name, ruddocki, is in honor of Dr. John C. Ruddock who was medical director for the Richfield Oil Corporation.[4]
Subspecies
Six subspecies of Masticophis flagellum are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]
- Masticophis flagellum cingulum Lowe & Woodin, 1954 – Sonoran coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum flagellum (Shaw, 1802) – eastern coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum lineatulus H.M. Smith, 1941 – lined coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum piceus (Cope, 1892) – red coachwhip, red racer
- Masticophis flagellum ruddocki Brattstrom & Warren, 1953 – San Joaquin coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum testaceus (Say, 1823) – western coachwhip
Description
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Masticophis_flagellum_at_Weeks_Bay_National_Estuarine_Research_Reserve.jpg/220px-Masticophis_flagellum_at_Weeks_Bay_National_Estuarine_Research_Reserve.jpg)
Coachwhips are thin-bodied snakes with small heads and large eyes with round pupils. They vary greatly in color, but most reflect a proper camouflage for their natural habitat. M. f. testaceus is typically a shade of light brown with darker brown flecking, but in the western area of
Distribution and habitat
Coachwhips range throughout the southern United States from coast to coast. They are also found in the northern half of Mexico.[2][8]
Coachwhips are commonly found in open areas with sandy soil, open pine forests, old fields, and prairies. They thrive in sandhill scrub and coastal dunes. However, they prefer oak savannas in eastern Texas. [9]
Behavior
Coachwhips are
Myths
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Masticophis_flagellum_-_Flickr_-_aspidoscelis.jpg/220px-Masticophis_flagellum_-_Flickr_-_aspidoscelis.jpg)
The primary myth concerning coachwhips, that they chase people, likely arises from the snake and the person both being frightened, and both just happening to be going the same way to escape.[14] Coachwhips are fast snakes, often moving faster than a human, and thus give an impression of aggression should they move toward the person.
The legend of the hoop snake may refer to the coachwhip snakes.
Another myth of the rural southeastern United States is of a snake that, when disturbed, would chase a person down, wrap him up in its coils, whip him to death with its tail, and then make sure he is dead by sticking its tail up the victim's nose to see if he is still breathing. In actuality, coachwhips are neither constrictors (snakes that dispatch their prey by suffocating with their coils) nor strong enough to overpower a person. Also, they do not whip with their tails, even though their tails are long and look very much like a whip.
In parts of Mexico, where ranching is a way of life, these snakes are believed to wrap around the legs of cows and feed on their milk as if suckling leaving the nipple dry. They allegedly hook onto any other mammal that produces milk, leaving the baby dehydrated.
Ranchers also tell stories of chirrioneras, which hypnotize women then latch onto their breasts to feed. If the woman has a crying hungry baby, the snake is said to stick its tail in the baby's mouth to keep the baby quiet while feeding, then leaves, undetected. This leaves the baby malnourished and getting weaker while the mother cannot feed her baby because her breasts have been sucked dry. The story goes that the only way to know if the snake has been there is if the baby has sores around the mouth.
In 1888, a farmer near Orlando, Florida, is said to have seen a sixteen-foot coachwhip with a head four inches wide. After seeing the snake swallow a rabbit the man moved forward to shoot, when the snake reared its head as high as a person and "began racing back and forth towards him".[15]
Gallery
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Head of an eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum) Florida (14 September 2015)
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Eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum), St. Genevieve County, Missouri (13 April 2014)
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Eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum), Jefferson County, Missouri (9 September 2018)
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Eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum), Taney County, Missouri (11 April 2015)
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Eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum), Washington County, Missouri (13 April 2018)
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Head of an eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum) from the Ozarks, Missouri (3 March 2021)
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Eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum), Florida (14 February 2016)
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A juvenile eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum), Jefferson County, Missouri (31 March 2016)]]
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Western coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum testaceus), Santa Fe, New Mexico (11 May 2016)
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Sonoran coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum cingulum), Nogales, Arizona (4 April 2011)
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Sonoran coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum cingulum), Nogales, Arizona (28 November 2010)
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Red racer (Masticophis flagellum piceus), Joshua Tree National Park, California (29 April 2011)
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San Joaquin coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum ruddocki), Carrizo Plain National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, California, (22 June 2006)
References
- . Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Masticophis flagellum at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
- ^ Wilson, Larry David. "Masticophis." (1973).
- JSTOR 20171284. (Masticophis flagellum ruddocki, new subspecies).
- ^ "Eastern Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum)". Florida Museum of Natural History. Flmnh.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
- S2CID 43558183.
- ^ Dodd CK, Barichivich WJ (2007). "Movements of large snakes (Drymarchon, Masticophis) in North-Central Florida" (PDF). Florida Scientist. 70 (1): 83–94. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
- ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9. (Coluber flagellum, pp. 370-371, Figure 177 + Plate32).
- ^ Johnson, Richard W.; Fleet, Robert R.; Keck, Michael B.; Rudolph, D. Craig. 2007. Spatial ecology of the coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum (Squamata: Colubridae), in eastern Texas. Southeastern Naturalist. 6(1): 111-124.
- ^ Whiting, Martin & Greene, Brian & Dixon, J. & Mercer, A. & Eckerman, Curtis. (1992). Observations on the foraging ecology of the western coachwhip snake, Masticophis flagellum testaceus. The Snake. 24. 157-160.
- ISSN 0038-4909.
- .
- ^ Wilson, Larry David (1968). The Coachwhip Snake, Masticophis flagellum (Shaw): Taxonomy and Distribution (PhD thesis). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. Vol. 1525. Louisiana State University. pp. 180–181. Retrieved 2020-08-21.
- ^ Willson, J. D. "Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum)". Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Farmer Near Orlando". Chronicling America. 1888-10-19. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- "Common Snake Myths". Austin Reptile Service.
- "The Red Coachwhip".
Further reading
- ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Masticophis flagellum, pp. 328–329 + Plates 469, 491, 553–554, 556, 558).
- Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis Printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Zamenis flagelliformis, pp. 389–390).
- Conant, Roger; Bridges, William (1939). What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company. Frontispiece map + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Masticophis flagellum, pp. 47–50 + Plate 6, figures 17–18).
- ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Masticophis flagellum, p. 129).
- Schmidt, Karl P.; Davis, D. Dwight (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp., 34 plates, 103 figures. (Coluber flagellum, pp. 127–131 + Figure 29 on p. 122 + Plate 13).
- Shaw G (1802). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History, Vol. III., Part II. London: G. Kearsley. vii + pp. 313–615. (Coluber flagellum, new species, p. 475).
- ISBN 0-307-47009-1(hardcover). (Masticophis flagellum, pp. 192–193).
- Wright, Albert Hazen; Wright, Anna Allen (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). (Masticophis flagellum, pp. 432–450, Figures 130–133, Map 37).