Japanese rat snake
| Japanese Rat Snake | |
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| By a river in Kyoto, Japan | |
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| Species: | E. climacophora
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| Binomial name | |
| Elaphe climacophora (Boie, 1826)
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The Japanese Rat Snake (Elaphe climacophora) is a medium sized snake found throughout the Japanese archipelago (except the far South West). In Japanese it is known as the Aodaishō or "Green General". It is a non-venomous snake, and a member of the Colubrid family. It is hunted by Eagles and Raccoon Dogs.
The snakes hibernate for three to four months, mate in spring and lay 7-20 eggs in early summer.
Description
Adults reach a length of between one and two meters and a girth of about five centimeters, and is the largest Japanese snake outside of Okinawa. The color is rather variable, from pale yellow-green to a dark blue-green color.
The young snakes have a pattern of brown stripes, which may be an example of mimesis to the venomous mamushi. An albino form is known, especially around Iwakuni, where they are known and revered as "Iwakuni White Snakes". The albino population was protected in 1924 as a "National Monument".
Diet
Japanese rat snakes eat a variety of small animals: rodents, frogs or lizards. They are strong climbers and often raid birds nests. They were favoured by farmers as effective rat control, though unpopular with chicken rearers.
Hybrids
In the German reptile zoo Exotarium Oberhof Elaphe climacophora has been found able to mate with Elaphe schrenckii and to produce fertile hybrids, that in mating with each other result in snakes that look very much like Elaphe taeniura.
References
- Japanese Wikipedia
- Ratsnakes.com