Louisiana pine snakes can grow up to 5 feet long, and they spend half their time underground.
Four areas in Louisiana and two in Texas should be protected as critical habitat for a rare snake that eats pocket gophers and takes over the rodents’ burrows, the federal government says.
Louisiana pine snakes, which produce the largest eggs and hatchlings of any U.S. snake, have been protected as threatened since 2018.
Their decline is largely due to the drastic reduction and fragmentation of grassy longleaf pine savannas with sandy soil. And since Louisiana pine snakes’ 5-inch-long (12.7-centimeter) eggs are so big that they lay only three to five at a time, losses are hard to replace.
The government wants to protect the habitat of the Louisiana pine snake that lays 5-inch-long eggs | Fortune
Four areas in Louisiana and two in Texas should be protected as critical habitat for a rare snake that eats pocket gophers and takes over the rodents’ burrows, the federal government says.
Louisiana pine snakes, which produce the largest eggs and hatchlings of any U.S. snake, have been protected as threatened since 2018.
Their decline is largely due to the drastic reduction and fragmentation of grassy longleaf pine savannas with sandy soil. And since Louisiana pine snakes’ 5-inch-long (12.7-centimeter) eggs are so big that they lay only three to five at a time, losses are hard to replace.
The government wants to protect the habitat of the Louisiana pine snake that lays 5-inch-long eggs | Fortune