Arizona elegans candida - Mohave Glossy Snake

Nonvenomous
Considered harmless to humans.

Size
Adults 26-70 in. (66-178 cm) Average length is 3 - 4 feet.

Appearance
Smooth, glossy scales with a faded or bleached-out appearance - a light brown, gray, cream, or pink ground color with tan brown or gray blotches on back and sides with black edges and a pale, unmarked underside. An average of 63 narrow blotches on body.

Behavior
Nocturnal. Burrows, hiding underground in daytime.

Diet
Preys mostly on sleeping diurnal lizards, but also eats small snakes, terrestrial birds, and mammals. Kills prey by direct swallowing or constriction.

Reproduction
Lays eggs in June and July.

Range
Occurs from Inyo County south through most of the Mojave Desert, and east barely into Nevada.

Habitat
Inhabits barren open sandy desert, desert scrub, rocky washes, grasslands.

Taxonomic Notes
It has been proposed that Arizona elegans be split into two distinct species, possibly due to tail length differences between the eastern and western groups. The western glossy snakes would become Arizona occidentalis with the eastern remaining Arizona elegans.