Diet: Ants, termites, and other small invertebrates. Crawls into ant nest to eat ant eggs and pupae.
Habitat: Rocky crevices and loose soil. Desert floor and brush-covered hillsides with soil for burrowing. Moist areas.
Range: Southern Nevada (Mojave Desert), southern California, southern Arizona east into the Rio Grande region (Texas), south into northern Mexico.
Breeding: 2-6 eggs laid during summer.
Similar Species: No other snake in southern Nevada is small, grayish, and worm-like with tiny "eyes."
Comments: Photos courtesy of Reptiles of Arizona. When handled, these tiny snakes ball up or writhe around madly, all the while excreting a huge amount of very stinky musk. This species probably is more common than we think based on capture records. |