Leeward Island Racer
Encyclopedia
The Leeward Island Racer (Alsophis rijgersmaei) is a species of snake
in the Colubridae family.
It is found in Anguilla
, Saint Barthélemy
, and probably extinct on sint Marteen.
The Grass snake
Alsophis rijersmai is the only snake in St. Maarten. I was thought to have been eradicated by the Mongoose (Westerman, 1955; Sajdak and Henderson, 1991 in Powell et al., 1992). However, in 1992 there was a report of 5 specimens that were captured at Mary's Fancy, and in the same year one was observed in the field (Powell et al., 1992). A snake was also seen after the hurricane in January 1996 during a field trip at Flagstaf (Ecovision/AIDEnvironment, 1996). Snakes of the genus Alsophis and Liophis prove to be more sensitive to introduced predators than other genera (Henderson, 1992). A. rijersmai is not rare in Mongoose-free Anguilla and St. Barths, and other species of the same genus are common in other Mongoose-free islands of the Lesser Antilles (even extremely abundant in some areas of Saba, Dominica and St. Eustatius), even though dogs and cats have probably been living on these islands for hundreds of years already. This snake is not poisonous. It lives on insects, small amphibians, reptiles and warm-blooded animals. For its survival it is important to control the Mongoose, and convince people not to kill snakes. The animal's habitat should also be protected.
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
in the Colubridae family.
It is found in Anguilla
Anguilla
Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
, Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy , officially the Territorial collectivity of Saint Barthélemy , is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao...
, and probably extinct on sint Marteen.
The Grass snake
Alsophis rijersmai is the only snake in St. Maarten. I was thought to have been eradicated by the Mongoose (Westerman, 1955; Sajdak and Henderson, 1991 in Powell et al., 1992). However, in 1992 there was a report of 5 specimens that were captured at Mary's Fancy, and in the same year one was observed in the field (Powell et al., 1992). A snake was also seen after the hurricane in January 1996 during a field trip at Flagstaf (Ecovision/AIDEnvironment, 1996). Snakes of the genus Alsophis and Liophis prove to be more sensitive to introduced predators than other genera (Henderson, 1992). A. rijersmai is not rare in Mongoose-free Anguilla and St. Barths, and other species of the same genus are common in other Mongoose-free islands of the Lesser Antilles (even extremely abundant in some areas of Saba, Dominica and St. Eustatius), even though dogs and cats have probably been living on these islands for hundreds of years already. This snake is not poisonous. It lives on insects, small amphibians, reptiles and warm-blooded animals. For its survival it is important to control the Mongoose, and convince people not to kill snakes. The animal's habitat should also be protected.
Source
- Day, M. 1996. Alsophis rijersmai. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 July 2007.
- St Barth Nature http://sbhnature.com/reptiles/reptiles.html.