{"id":177521,"date":"2025-09-24T01:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T01:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/177521\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T01:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T01:07:10","slug":"this-elusive-species-is-louisianas-rarest-snake-and-one-of-the-rarest-in-north-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/177521\/","title":{"rendered":"This elusive species is Louisiana’s rarest snake and one of the rarest in North America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Louisiana is home to about 48 species and subspecies of snakes, and seven of them are venomous<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of snakes<\/a> in the state are nonvenomous, and they play a role in controlling local rodent and insect populations, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.<\/p>\n

One of these non-venomous snake species also happens to be one of the rarest snakes in Louisiana<\/a>, and one of the rarest species in North America.<\/p>\n

What is the Louisiana pine snake?<\/p>\n

The Louisiana pine snake is considered the rarest snake in Louisiana<\/a>, as its numbers have declined significantly, which has led to its status as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.<\/p>\n

The decrease in the Louisiana pine snake population is predominantly due to extensive habitat loss of its required longleaf pine forest and sandy soil environments. The species’ habitat range extends from western Louisiana to eastern Texas, says Audubon Zoo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because of widespread population declines, the species is also considered to be one of the rarest snakes in North America, according to Audubon Zoo.<\/p>\n

There are fewer than 200 Louisiana pine snakes left in the wild, with the population having experienced severe declines and local extinctions over the last 50 to 80 years, according to Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens.<\/p>\n

Currently, conservation efforts remain ongoing, with agencies\u00a0like the U.S. Forest Service and the National Wildlife Federation working to restore longleaf pine habitats, and the Audubon Zoo helping maintain the species’ population by providing opportunities for reintroduction, according to the Audubon Nature Institute Newsroom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/p>\n

Amy Brennan, a conservation outreach specialist at Fort Polk, said two endangered Louisiana pine snakes, Mario and Lugi are used as outreach resources to teach the public and soldiers about the endangered species of snake and how to identify them if they come across them. Mario and Lugi were both bred in captivity at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

This non-venomous constrictor also spends most of its life underground, making the snakes difficult to find and elusive to even researchers, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.<\/p>\n

As far as physical characteristics go, these snakes have pointed snouts that help them burrow into pocket gopher tunnels, and they have tan bodies with a pattern of brownish-black splotches running down their bodies, according to the National Wildlife Federation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for Gannett\/USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: What is the rarest snake in Louisiana? Why the decrease in pine snakes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Louisiana is home to about 48 species and subspecies of snakes, and seven of them are venomous. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[105586,2027,6098,105587,4265,105588,79,22472,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-177521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-audubon-zoo","9":"tag-endangered-species","10":"tag-louisiana","11":"tag-louisiana-pine-snake","12":"tag-north-america","13":"tag-pine-snakes","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-threatened-species","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}