California Reptiles & Amphibians

Chionactis occipitalis occipitalis - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies.

Adult, Kern County

Adult, Riverside County

Adult, Riverside County
© Harold De Lisle

Adult, northeast Kern County
(possible intergrade with C. o. talpina.)

Adult male, San Bernardino County
© Trevor Yehle

Habitat, Riverside County

Habitat, Kern County

Habitat, Riverside County

Short Videos

Two views of a Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake crawling.

A Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake strikes repeatedly.

Description

Nonvenomous

Considered harmless to humans.

Size

Adults are 11 - 17 inches long (25 - 43 cm)

Appearance

Smooth, shiny scales, not keeled. The ground color is cream or yellowish and the body is circled with 40 or more black bands, usually with no red crossbands between them. Most black bands do not completely encircle the body. The head is narrow with a large spade-like scale on the tip of a flat shovel-like snout, a countersunk lower jaw, and nasal valves.

Behavior

Nocturnal. Burrows underground in daytime, but occasionally found by day in shaded areas. Smooth scales, flat shout, concave abdomen, and nasal valves are adaptations that allow for a quick swimming movement through loose sand, with an s-shaped, side-to-side movement. Often seen crossing desert roads at night.

Diet

Eats invertebrates: insects, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, larval insects and moths, often while the snake is burrowing.

Reproduction

Lays eggs late spring through summer.

Range

Found in the central southern California deserts to the base of the mountains - south and east of the Sierras and Tehachapis, and north and west of the Transverse and Peninsular ranges. Ranges north to around the Panamint Valley, south to near the Salton Sea, and east to the state line. Ranges farther east into southern Nevada and west central Arizona.

Habitat

Inhabits dry desert habitats with loose sand and often with little vegetation - washes, dunes, sandy flats, rocky hillsides.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Chionactis	Shovel-nosed Snakes
Species	occipitalis	Western Shovel-nosed Snake
Subspecies	occipitalis	Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake
Original Description
Chionactis occipitalis - (Hallowell, 1854) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 95 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Chionactis - Greek - chion - snow and aktis - ray or beam occipitalis - Latin - pertaining to the back of the head from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Mojave Desert Shovelnose Snake
Related or Similar California Snakes
C. o. annulata - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake C. o. talpina - Nevada Shovel-nosed Snake S. s. semiannulata - Variable Groundsnake R. l. lecontei - Western Long-nosed Snake
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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