Pituophis ruthveni Lousiana Pine snake
Below is an adult male from Bienville Parish, Lousiana parent stock
Digital image by Patrick Houston Briggs
Louisiana Pine snake, 2014 neonate below from Bienville Parish Lousiana locality parent stock.
Pituophis ruthveni (specimen below from Louisiana Zoo stock)
Photo by Chris Youmans
Pituophis ruthveni
By
Patrick Houston Briggs
The
Louisiana pine snake is considered to be the rarest snake in North America. It
was discovered in 1929 and is indigenous to western central Louisiana and central eastern Texas. From that time period, only a few individuals had been found
before the mid-90s. Some of the difficulty finding them is due to the fact that
they spend a lot of time in a subterranean ecosystem, but also their unique
type of habitat had been altered because of the logging industry especially
when enormous amounts of timber were cleared in the early 1920s. Although many
more individuals have been found since that time, it is still a rare jewel and
it survives in just a few small parcels of pine forest. The United States
Forestry Service (USFS), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
and the Memphis Zoo have become partners in identifying and restoring altered
tracts of longleaf pine forest in Louisiana and Texas in those areas where the
pine snake populations have or still do exist. Cooperating zoos participating
in the AZA Species Survival Plan for the Louisiana pine snake breed this form
for release to be monitored and studied.
Regarding its
systematics, pine snakes are members of the genus Pituophis and a part
of the family Colubridae. The Louisiana pine snake is a non-venomous
constrictor and the only pine snake within the U.S. not classfied under the melanoleucus
species. This taxon has been given full species status as
"ruthveni" or Pituophis ruthveni. Its scientific name, ruthveni
comes from the late herpetologist of the University of Michigan Museum of
Zoology, Alexander G. Ruthven. Somewhat recent DNA studies seem
to indicate that some bull snake individuals of Pituophis catenifer
sayi are more closely related to some Lousiana pine snake Pituophis
ruthveni individuals than other bull snake individuals!
See the article:( Molecular Systematics
of New World Gopher, Bull, and Pinesnakes (Pituophis:Colubridae), a
Transcontinental Species Complex Javier A. Rodr?guez-Robles*,1 and Jose M. De
Jesus-Escobar? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Vol. 14, No. 1, January,
pp. 35?50, 2000
)
"We used
mitochondrial gene sequences from the two middle American species, P. deppei
and P. lineaticollis, and from 13 subspecies from most of the range of
the melanoleucus complex to test various phylogenetic hypotheses for Pituophis.
Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods identified the same major
clades within Pituophis and indicated that two segments of the melanoleucus
complex, the lodingi-melanoleucus-mugitus eastern pinesnake clade and the
affinis-annectens-bimaris-catenifer-deserticola-sayi-ruthveni-vertebralis clade
from central and western United States and northern Mexico, represent divergent
allopatric lineages with no known intergradation zone. We recognize each of
these two groupings as a different species. Our data also indicate that some ruthveni are more
closely related to sayi than to other ruthveni. Nonetheless, ruthveni is an allopatric
taxon diagnosable from its closest relatives by a combination of morphometric
characters, and because it is likely that at least some of these traits are
independent and genetically inherited, we interpret this as evidence that
ruthveni has attained the status of independent evolutionary lineage, despite
the fact that it retains strong genetic affinities with sayi."
This snake generally
is 48-56 inches (122-142 cm) in length, but the largest recorded specimen
by 1998 was 701/4 inches (178 cm).
Although it is rarely seen in the wild, a few captive animals are being
regularly produced from the breeding stock available in zoos, in private
collections and the Forest Service. In the past, greedy breeders in
the pet trade have interbred with other pine snake forms and deceitfully called
them RUTHVENI to pass them off as pure Louisiana pine snakes and collect more
cash.
Breeders producing
hatchlings from true parents have noticed that although the clutch of (3-5)
eggs is relatively small, the size of the eggs of the oviparous Louisiana pine
snake is enormous compared to any other pine snake eggs and possibly the eggs
of any other U.S. snake. They can be 5 inches long (13 cm) and 2 inches
wide (5.1 cm), and the hatchlings are also born much larger (18-22 inches long
and about 107 grams in weight). The neonates mature in about 3 years at about 4
feet in length.
HABITAT:
The Lousiana pine snake
seems to thrive best in sandy, well-drained soils with open pine forest.
Usually these are the longleaf pine savannah regions with few to a moderate
amount of smaller trees and bushes, and thick ground cover dominated by grass.
The species seems to prefer the banks of elevated areas of sand or wide ridges
with sand and numerous gopher mounds. In these areas it frequents tunnel systems
created by rodents such as the Baird's pocket gopher Geomys breviceps,
a creature also sympatric to them, and for which they also
have developed specialized behaviors to feed on the rodents that create
these underground systems.
RANGE:
The Louisiana pine
snake is a rare form of pine snake only indigenous to western central Louisiana
and central eastern Texas. Found in open pine forests, xeric (dry) sandhill woodlands, especially longleaf pine savannahs with well-developed herbaceous understory dominated by grasses. Spend majority of time underground in burrows made by pocket gophers. The Louisiana pinesnake is presumed to be extirpated from much of its former range and is presently known from areas around Bienville Parish, the Peason Ridge area, and Fort Polk.There is another form of pine snake that is also found in Lousiana in the extreme southeast, in the Washington Parish region, but it is a
different species known as the Black pine snake Pituophis melanoleucus
lodingi. (Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries website https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/species/detail/louisiana-pinesnake)
In the Texas range area below.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A guide to the natural history and identification of herptiles in The Pelican State
http://www.louisianaherps.com/louisiana-pinesnake-pituoph.html
The U.S Fish and
Wildlife Service reports the ruthveni species distribution
originally to have occurred in at least 9 parishes (Louisiana is divided into
parishes rather than counties) and 14 counties in Texas coinciding with a
disjunct part of the longleaf pine ecosystem west of the Mississippi River. It
now reports the snakes distribution to include only 4 Louisiana parishes and 5
Texas counties.
In Texas, recorded
confirmations of their occurance only in the south part of the Sabine National
Forest (Sabine County) and private land that is adjacent (Newton County), as
well as the southern portion of the Angelina National Forest (Angelina, Jasper,
and Tyler counties). Most current records reflect the presence of Pituophis
ruthveni from two separate areas, both measuring less than 4 miles in
radius each, and a third site, (Scrappin Valley) managed by Temple-Inland
Corporation in north Newton County.
In Louisiana, most of the records
originate in Bienville Parish, a privately owned forestland. A second
population reportedly occurs on Federal lands in Vernon Parish (Fort Polk, U.S.
Army, and the Kisatchie National Forest). The third population of this species
occurs near the juncture of Vernon, Sabine, and Natchitoches parishes.
IDENTIFICATION:
Louisiana pine
snakes as adults are muscular powerful constrictors about 4 to 5 feet in
length. They have enlarged rostal or snout scales. When they are not upset
and widening the head as a defense gesture, the widest part of the jaws of the
head is only slightly wider than the neck. The ground color may
be buff or a color similar to the yellowish tone of a lion, but many
times, it is ashy grey. Just behind the dappled or smudgy upper
neck are 28-42 dark brown vertebral blotches or spots that are similar in
color, but with the markings or pattern visibly different from one
end to another. The neck region is less distinct, because the dark color suffuses
and blends to obscure the lighter coloration. Towards the mid-body,
the dark markings become more and more distinct and contrasting
or separated, and sometimes, are reddish toward the tail yet reduced
in marking thickness. Also, nearest the tail region, the ground color may
become more yellow. Futhermore, the snout generally comes to an extreme
point, and the snout scale (rostral) is elevated or re-enforced above the
surrounding scales for added strength for pushing sand and other materials
when burrrowing. Its head is only slightly marked
with some small dots and a faded bar in front and between the
orbitals above and a faint bar sometimes runs from behind each eye angling down
toward the rear upper labials. The upper labials and some of the lower labial
scale sutures may also be outlined with brown or black. The ventrals
never appear to be immaculate, but are intermediately blotched with brown or
black and where the sides meet the belly, so there usually is no
true checkered belly pattern. Degrees of black or the intensity of
pigmentation varies throughout the species and different individuals within its
geographical range. Even so, Louisiana pine snakes from Louisiana tend to be
much lighter than those of Texas individuals with darker usually black markings.
The first Louisiana
pine snake described (Type locality) was from Longleaf, Rapides County,
Louisiana. Holotype, USNM 76278, a 1520 mm male (W. D. Harris, 24 March 1927
Regarding scuttelation
or scale arrangement, like most Pituophis, there are usually 4
prefrontal scales and azygous scales may sometimes bring up the count, or fused
wider scales may bring down the prefrontal count. The rostral scale
is exceptionally large and raised above adjacent scales, and there are
usually 8 or 9 supralabials and from about 10-15 (generally 14) infralabials.
The anal scale is single or undivided. There are 27-33 rough and heavily keeled
scales dorsally becoming smoother to no keels toward the belly. (In males,
there may be 210-230 ventrals, and females, 213-229) and males may possess
51-64 caudal scales, while females will have a lesser amount of about 49-55. Ruthveni
also have one preocular and from 3-4 postoculars which are sometimes fused with
each other or other scales.
STATUS:
In the state of
Louisiana, it is classified as imperiled-to-vulnerable, and in the state of
Texas, it is listed as "threatened" and therefore, protected from
direct harm and unauthorized collection. Also Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department has also listed it as endangered.
·
We know that demise of this species is partly due to urban
development, agricultural practices, roads, and industrial development, and
even suppression of natural fires all which contribute to habitat loss and
fragmentation of this and many other species. There are many other factors that
have impacted populations. However, the loss of the native longleaf and
shortleaf pine ecosystem seems to be the most significant impact to populations
of the Louisiana pine snake. Its low fucundity doesn't help the situation any
better. Perhaps, responsible captive breeding can help bring up the numbers as
the states make efforts to restore these habitat areas in the future.
·
On May 1, 2012 USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Memphis Zoo, and
other partners released seven young Louisiana pine snakes on a restored
longleaf pine stand in the Kisatchie
National Forest in Louisiana. See the article below.
·
http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/compass/2012/05/08/taking-americas-rarest-snake-back-to-the-woods/
·
Recovery Measures:
·
According to a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: " In March of
2004, a Candidate Conservation Agreement was developed and approved in order to
identify and establish management protection for the pine snake on Federal land
by protecting known populations and habitat reducing threats to its survival,
maintaining its ecosystem and restoring degraded habitat. This agreement was
intended to establish a framework for cooperation and participation in the pine
snake=s protection, conservation, and management within the boundaries of the
Angelina and Sabine National Forests of Texas, Kisatchie National Forest in
Louisiana, and Fort Polk Military Reservation in Louisiana. This agreement was
implemented by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service; Fort Polk, U.S. Army, Department of
Defense(Fort Polk); Region 2 and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries. Restoration measures will include prescribed burning, thinning, and
replanting of long-leaf pine forest."
·
See this Online Article by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/clearlakees/pdf/pinesnake.pdf
·
The
Lousiana pine snake needs fire to survive: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/news/66
·
·
Louisiana Pine Snakes in Pine Forests Click
on excellent article below by Wendee Holtcamp
·
http://www.fseee.org/forest-magazine/your-national-forests/1002467-louisiana-pine-snake
·
"Pocket
gophers create extensive burrow systems that provide shelter for dozens of
species, from frogs to tortoises to salamanders to insects. The gophers eat
roots and tubers, and, when necessary, try to escape from what Rudolph found
was their most formidable predator, the Louisiana pine snake. The snakes play
an important ecological role. They occasionally eat moles, turtle eggs
and other small rodents, and as the subterranean-living reptiles slither
underground, they keep abandoned gopher burrows open, which in turn provide
habitat for other creatures."
·
·
Here's
a video of a wild adult Louisiana pine snake in a forest in east Texas!
·
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOCH92EVAy4
·
Live
zoo specimens http://www.louisianaherps.com/louisiana-pinesnake-pituoph.html
Javier A. Rodriguez-Robles and Jose M. De
Jesus-Escobar of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative
Biology at the University of California in Berkeley, California have
worked with most species of Pituophis at the molecular level.
Their findings indicate that some ruthveni are more closely
related to sayi than other ruthveni. This is very interesting.
Even so, they report "Nonetheless, ruthveni is an
allopatric taxon diagnosable from its closest relatives by a combination of
morphometric characters, and because it is likely that at least some of these
traits are independent and genetically-inherited, we interpret this as evidence
that ruthveni has
attained the status of independent evolutionary lineage, despite the fact that
it retains strong genetic affinities with sayi "
SCUTELATION:
Rostral
enlarged, raised and modified for a
burrowing lifestyle
Supralabials
8-9
Infralabials
14-15
Preoculars
1
Postoculars
3-4
Loreal
1
Temporals
2-3
Prefrontals
(usually 4) 2-5 azygos
are sometimes present
Parietals
relatively
small
Midbody Count
(usually 33) 27-33 rough and heavily keeled
dorsally each row along each side becoming smoother toward the belly borders.
Ventrals
210-230
Caudals
49-64
Anal
single or undivided
*DORSAL SCALES
ARE KEELED BECOMING SMOOTHER ON THE ROWS CLOSEST TO THE BELLY.
http://louisianaconservationist.org/louisiana-pine-snake/
Another source
site at: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/news/66
See also: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/pinesnake/
See
this image of the Louisiana Pine Snake:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_fauna_sci-Reptile&seq_num=155428&c
http://www.kingsnake.com/louisiana/species_louisiana_pine.htm
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/07/species-re-emerges/
Info on
this pine snake species: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27669678?uid=3739560&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102046130751
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/clearlakees/PDF/PINESNAKE.pdf
A zoo helping to regain habitat for Louisiana pine snake: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/07/species-re-emerges/
More scientific info on ruthveni: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3878124?uid=3739560&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102046130751
http://serpentrack.com/serpentes/Colubridae/Pituophis/ruthveni/ruthveni/55
See Olive Griffith Stull, Bulletin 175, p.
22, U.S. NATL. MUSM. TABLE 1.---Synopsis of the forms of the genus Pituophis
for the
Louisiana pine snake
Pituophis ruthveni
BETWEEN
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries September 2003
Click below:
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/pinesnake/LA-pinesnake-agreement.html
P. ruthveni female from pure wild
Bienville Parish, Louisiana parents
Digital Image By Patrick H. Briggs 2015
Male Ruthveni below from wild parents of Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Digital Image By Patrick H. Briggs 2015
See this link for some breeder images of ruthveni. http://pituophisdaveb.blogspot.com/
Some but not all of the information below was taken from a report posted simply by Kb Thursday, October 13, 2005
"Most captive Louisiana pine snakes may possibly trace their heritage back to Terry Vandeventer and Don Young" mention some of the veteran pituophis breeders. They had collected a few back in the 1980s from Bienville Parish, Louisiana. There were also some of these snakes that originated from Memphis Zoo stock coming from Steve Reichling who had a captive breeding program for them during this time period. Vandeventer collected and provided some of the snakes for that program. Others have been known to have come from Rapides, Parish, Louisiana, but little is known as to what has happened to them. Recently, WC stock was obtained by Mike Monlezun, Louis Porras, Theron Magers, and KJ Lodrigue. John Ginter has also obtained WC Louisiana pine snakes from Bienville, Parish. Although John is among the most respected pituophis researchers and collectors, before and around the beginning of 2000, he was breeding and selling what he was told by a trusted associate to be pure Louisiana pine snakes. They turned out to be bogus hybrids, Northern pine snakes and bull snakes with some, possibly bred with Louisiana pine snakes. He reportedly found out when the hybrid on this site was featured in Reptiles Magazine and he received many calls and emails. Many others have been pulled into the fakes. John is very careful now about the integrity, locality, legality, other details regarding all his reptile adquisitions. Craig Trumbower, a long time PIT breeder was also deceived by greedy liars. Another report says that Jim Kane so fed up with the deceptions and legitimacy of pure ruthveni, sold his breeders that may have actually been valid and pure, and he focused his efforts on other breeding choices.
PITUOPHIS RUTHVENI
BY PATRICK H. BRIGGS 2016
Male Pituophis ruthveni from parents of Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Photo by Patrick H. Briggs May 2017
The Louisiana Pine Snake ( 3 year old male from Bienville Parish, Louisiana parent stock)
Digital image taken by Patrick H. Briggs May 2017
Below is the author of this website, Patrick Houston Briggs with a sub-adult Louisiana Pine snake.
Photo by Nancy Briggs
Pituophis ruthveni, Bienville Parish stock below
Below is a Louisiana Pine snake Pituophis ruthveni
adult male from Bienville Parish, Louisiana parents
Digital Image By Patrick Briggs April, 2018
From Bienville Parish, Louisiana parent stock Pituophis ruthveni
Digital image By Patrick H. Briggs
Neonate Louisiana Pine snake from Bienville Parish, Louisiana parents.
Photo By Pat Briggs
Below is an Upper head study of male adult Pituophis ruthveni
from parent stock of Bienville Parish in Louisiana.
Photo Image By Patrick Houston Briggs