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northeastern Kansas and western Missouri, southward to central Nuevo Leon, Mexico; north in the Mississippi and Ohio river systems to central Illinois and southern Indiana; disjunct populations in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Durango, and Zacatecas; records from West Virginia and Pennsylvania are erroneous; a record from New Jersey probably is based on human introduction (McCranie 1990, Gibbons and Dorcas 2004). Elevational range extends from sea level to 2,042 meters on the Mexican Plateau.","areaOfOccupancy":null,"areaOfOccupancyComments":null,"numberEosComments":"This species is represented by a very large number of occurrences or subpopulations (see map in McCranie 1990).","popSizeComments":"Total adult population size is unknown but undoubtedly exceeds 100,000.","viabilityComments":null,"threatImpactComments":"Habitat destruction and/or \"human contact\" has extirpated this species from some parts of its former range (McCranie 1990), particularly in the north-central part of the range (Great Lakes states; see information for subspecies <i>neglecta</i>). <br><br>Apparent range expansion accompanied impoundment of a river in Missouri (see McCranie 1990). This species can successfully colonize and establish populations in reclamation ponds in formerly strip-mined areas (Keck 1998).","shortTermTrendComments":"Extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size probably are relatively stable or declining at a rate of less than 10 percent over 10 years or three generations.","longTermTrendComments":"Declines have occurred in the north-central part of the range (see information for subspecies <i>neglecta</i>).","inventoryNeeds":null,"numberProtEosComments":"In the United States, at least several occurrences are in protected areas. No protected areas exist for the disjunct populations in Mexico.","protectionNeeds":null,"otherConsiderations":null,"intrinsicVulnerabilityComments":null,"enviromentalSpecificityComments":null},"animalCharacteristics":{"elementGlobalId":103491,"majorHabitat":{"id":3,"majorHabitatDescEn":"Terrestrial","majorHabitatDescEs":"Terrestre","majorHabitatDescFr":"Terrestre"},"nonMigrant":false,"localMigrant":false,"longDistanceMigrant":false,"mobilityMigrationComments":null,"foodHabitsComments":"Eats mainly fishes and frogs; also tadpoles, salamanders, crayfish, and other aquatic invertebrates (Mount 1975, Minton 1972, Ashton and Ashton 1981).","animalPhenologyComments":"Active from March to October in north, all year in south except during cold weather (Collins 1982, Minton 1972, Tennant 1984). Basks by day, forages in evening and at night (Collins 1982, Tennant 1984).","colonialBreeder":false,"length":158,"width":null,"weight":null,"animalPhenologies":[{"animalCagPhenologyId":102476,"animalPhenology":{"id":1,"animalPhenologyDescEn":"Hibernates/aestivates","animalPhenologyDescEs":"Hibernación/Estivación","animalPhenologyDescFr":"Hiberne/estive","displayOrder":1},"adult":true,"immature":true},{"animalCagPhenologyId":102477,"animalPhenology":{"id":3,"animalPhenologyDescEn":"Diurnal","animalPhenologyDescEs":"Diurno","animalPhenologyDescFr":"Diurne","displayOrder":3},"adult":true,"immature":true},{"animalCagPhenologyId":102478,"animalPhenology":{"id":4,"animalPhenologyDescEn":"Nocturnal","animalPhenologyDescEs":"Nocturno","animalPhenologyDescFr":"Nocturne","displayOrder":4},"adult":true,"immature":true},{"animalCagPhenologyId":102479,"animalPhenology":{"id":5,"animalPhenologyDescEn":"Crepuscular","animalPhenologyDescEs":"Crepuscular","animalPhenologyDescFr":"Crépusculaire","displayOrder":5},"adult":true,"immature":true}],"animalFoodHabits":[{"animalCagFoodHabitsId":104616,"foodHabits":{"id":1,"foodHabitsDescEn":"Carnivore","foodHabitsDescEs":"Carnívoro","foodHabitsDescFr":"Carnivore","displayOrder":1},"adult":true,"immature":true},{"animalCagFoodHabitsId":104617,"foodHabits":{"id":2,"foodHabitsDescEn":"Piscivore","foodHabitsDescEs":"Piscivore","foodHabitsDescFr":"Piscivore","displayOrder":2},"adult":true,"immature":true}]},"occurrenceDelineations":[{"eoSpecsDetailId":1142,"locationUseClass":{"id":1,"locationUseClassDescEn":"Not applicable","locationUseClassDescEs":"No se aplica","locationUseClassDescFr":"Sans objet","displayOrder":1},"eoSpecGroupName":"Medium And Large Colubrid Snakes","subtypes":null,"inferredExtentDistance":0.5,"inferredExtentNotes":null,"minimumEoCriteria":"Occurrences are based on evidence of historical presence, or current and likely recurring presence, at a given location. Such evidence minimally includes collection or reliable observation and documentation of one or more individuals (including eggs) in or near appropriate habitat where the species is presumed to be established and  breeding.","mappingGuidance":null,"separationBarriers":"Busy highway or highway with obstructions such that snakes rarely if ever cross successfully; major river, lake, pond, or deep marsh (this barrier pertains only to upland species and does not apply to aquatic or wetland snakes); densely urbanized area dominated by buildings and pavement.","separationDistanceUnsuitableHabitatat":1.0,"separationDistanceSuitableHabitatat":10.0,"altSeparationProcedure":null,"separationJustification":"Available information on movements of colubrid snakes is limited to a small minority of species. These data indicate that nearly all species have home ranges smaller or much smaller than 25 ha (e.g., less than 3 ha, <i>Pituophis catenifer</i> in California, Rodriguez-Robles 2003), with some up to about 75 ha (<i>Heterodon platirhinos</i>, average 50 ha, Plummer and Mills 2000), and the largest up to 225 ha in the biggest colubrids (<i>Drymarchon</i>, summer mean 50-100 ha, USFWS 1998). <br><br>Radiotelemetry data for <i>Pantherophis </i>indicate that residents of hibernacula that are 1-2 km apart (with suitable intervening habitat) probably interbreed (Prior et al. 1997, Blouin-Demers and Weatherhead 2002). However, \"evidence of genetic structure even over short distances (e.g., 2-20 km) implies that gene flow among rat snake populations can be easily disrupted\" (Prior et al. 1997). Loughheed et al. (1999) found evidence of substantial genetic exchange among local hibernacula (< 6 km apart), but gene flow over distances of 10s of km appears to be substantially less. Based on extensive radio-tracking data, Blouin-Demers and Weatherhead (2002) found that home range size of <i>Pantherophis </i>averaged 18.5 ha and ranged up to 93 ha; based on the most mobile individuals, <i>Pantherophis </i>from hibernacula up to 8 km apart can come together for mating. <i>Pantherophis </i>and probably other colubrids exhibit high fidelity to hibernacula and shift even to nearby sites only rarely (Prior et al. 2001). <br><br>Many of the several studies that report small home ranges for colubrids did not employ methods (e.g., radio telemetry) suitable for detecting full annual or multi-annual home range size, dispersal, or other long-distance movements, so these may have yielded underestimates of home ranges or activity areas.  <br><br>At least some colubrids, including medium-sized species such as garter snakes, not uncommonly move between areas up to a few kilometers apart, and several species make extensive movements of up to several kilometers, so separation distances of 1-2 km for suitable habitat are too small for medium-sized and large colubrids.<br><br>A separation distance of 10 km for suitable habitat was selected as most appropriate for snakes assigned to this Specs Group because it seems generally unlikely that two locations separated by less than 10 km of suitable habitat would represent distinct occurrences.<br><br>For the purposes of these occurrence specifications, upland habitat is regarded as unsuitable habitat for aquatic and wetland snakes. For upland snakes, shallow or patchy wetlands are treated as unsuitable habitat whereas large deepwater habitats (subjective determination) are barriers.","versionDate":"2013-02-12","versionAuthor":"Hammerson, G.","versionNotes":"Separation distance for suitable habitat was changed from 5 km to 10 km based on comments from Dale Jackson (12 Feb 2013).","lastModified":"2020-04-30T02:04:05.987846Z"}],"plantCharacteristics":null,"elementManagement":{"elementGlobalId":103491,"eoManagementGroupName":null,"stewardshipOverview":null,"impacts":null,"restorationPotential":null,"siteConservationPlansConsidered":null,"managementMethods":null,"monitoringMethods":null,"managementProgramContacts":null,"monitoringProgramContacts":null,"managementResearchPrograms":null,"managementResearchNeeds":null,"biologicalResearchNeeds":null,"additionalTopics":null},"occurrenceViabilities":[{"eoRankSpecsDetailId":104971,"eoRankSpecsGroupName":null,"locationUseClass":{"id":1,"locationUseClassDescEn":"Not applicable","locationUseClassDescEs":"No se aplica","locationUseClassDescFr":"Sans objet","displayOrder":1},"excellentViability":null,"goodViability":null,"fairViability":null,"poorViability":null,"viabilityJustification":"Use the Generic Guidelines for the Application of Occurrence Ranks (2008).<br>The Key for Ranking Species Occurrences Using the Generic Approach provides a step-wise process for implementing this method.","versionDate":null,"versionAuthor":null,"versionNotes":null,"lastModified":"2020-05-14T02:24:15.382816Z"}],"references":[{"id":100882,"citation":"Ashton, R. E., Jr., and P. S. Ashton. 1981. Handbook of reptiles and amphibians of Florida. Part One: The Snakes. Windward Publishing Company, Miami, Florida. 176 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Ashton and Ashton","shortCitationYear":1981,"referenceCode":"B81ASH01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:12:09.428867Z"},{"id":121383,"citation":"Bartlett, R. D., and P. P. Bartlett. 1999a. A field guide to Texas reptiles &amp; amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. xviii + 331 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Bartlett and Bartlett","shortCitationYear":1999,"referenceCode":"B99BAR01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T14:38:24.173666Z"},{"id":121080,"citation":"Bartlett, R. D., and P. P. Bartlett. 1999b. A field guide to Florida reptiles and amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. xvi + 278 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Bartlett and Bartlett","shortCitationYear":1999,"referenceCode":"B99BAR02NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:11:58.710124Z"},{"id":137372,"citation":"Behler, J. L., and F. W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 719 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Behler and King","shortCitationYear":1979,"referenceCode":"B79BEH01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T14:38:24.173666Z"},{"id":120569,"citation":"Collins, J. T. 1982. Amphibians and reptiles in Kansas. Second edition. Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist., Pub. Ed. Ser. 8. xiii + 356 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Collins","shortCitationYear":1982,"referenceCode":"B82COL01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:12:09.428867Z"},{"id":137880,"citation":"Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Collins","shortCitationYear":1990,"referenceCode":"B90COL01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T14:38:15.579798Z"},{"id":121203,"citation":"Collins, J. T. 1993. 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