Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina) (Baird & Girard, 1853)

 

Synonyms: Elaphe vulpinus, Elaphe gloydi, Pantherophis vulpinus, Pantherophis vulpina, Pantherophis gloydi, Pantherophis ramspotti (in part), foxsnake, eastern fox snake, western foxsnake, eastern foxsnake

 

 

 

Elaphe vulpina is endemic to the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of North America. Its range extends from southern Minnesota and eastern Nebraska to the lower peninsula of Michigan, and the vicinity of Lakes Huron and Erie in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Fox Snake inhabits forest and forest edge, savanna, prairie, pastures, farmland, marshes, and sometimes, rocky areas. This large, but harmless colubrid may reach 180 cm in length. It light golden brown, with dark brown spots, dorsally, and with a yellow checkerboard pattern ventrally. The young are usually gray in color. Although these snakes are excellent climbers, they spend most of the time on the ground, and in burrows. This species feeds on small rodents, birds (including nestlings and eggs), and frogs. Historically, this species was divided into two subspecies, Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina vulpina) and Eastern Fox Snake (E. v. gloydi). In the early 2000s, all North American rat snakes (Elaphe) were moved to the resurrected genus Pantherophis; recent phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA proposed the Mississippi River as the boundary between the two taxa, and all fox snakes east of the Mississippi are now considered P. vulpinus (including P. gloydi); all populations west of the river were given the new name P. ramspotti. Nevertheless, there is little evidence that western and eastern “foxsnakes” differ morphologically, and their genetic separation may be minimal; thus, very likely, they are one species, e.g., as defined in Ernst and Ernst (2003).

 

		11637 Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina) Long Point, Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
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		12984 Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina); juvenile Windsor, Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		12994 Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina); juvenile Windsor, Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved

 

		3576 Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina) East Sister Island, Lake Erie Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved

 

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