第 0602 號，共 1 402 號

Desert night snake

Hypsiglena chlorophaea

無害對人無害。不用擔心。

咬吃：肉

The desert nightsnake is a small, slender snake that hunts at night and spends the day hidden. It lives in dry parts of western North America, from the southwestern United States into northwestern Mexico. It is mildly venomous, but it poses no danger to people.1

分布在

Western and southwestern United States, northwestern Mexico, and a small area of southern British Columbia, Canada1

北美洲

首頁

It lives in dry places such as desert scrub, chaparral, grasslands, oak woodlands and rocky canyons. It spends daylight hours hiding in rock crevices, on talus slopes, under surface debris or in abandoned mammal burrows.1

長度

30 cm 到 66 cm (1 ft 到 2,2 ft)1

最高速度

大約 4,5 km/h（2,8 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It is an ambush predator that waits for prey and uses its mild venom to subdue it. It mainly eats small lizards such as skinks and lizard eggs, and will also take small snakes, frogs, salamanders and insects.1

Desert night snake 的照片 — Desert night snake。照片：iNaturalist user: nmoorhatch。 CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Small and slender, usually 30 to 66 cm long in total.1
Base colour is beige, yellowish or grey, with dark grey-brown blotches that usually form offset pairs down the back.1
Three long dark blotches on the neck and one behind each eye.1
Triangular head with vertical pupils.1
Smooth scales on the back and no rattle at the tail.1

常被誤認為： It is often mistaken for a juvenile rattlesnake because of its triangular head, vertical pupils and blotched pattern. Unlike a rattlesnake, it has no rattle and its back scales are smooth.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

It is mildly venomous and uses its venom to subdue prey. It has rear fangs, which are grooved teeth at the back of the upper jaw.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 輕微跟蜜蜂螫差不多或更輕微。對人基本上無害。

It is mildly venomous and poses no danger to humans.1

如果牠咬人

清洗咬傷處，讓傷者保持冷靜，並且就醫。有些種類（例如非洲樹蛇）可能在幾個小時後才致命。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 4 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長可以在 80 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

Desert night snake 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Desert night snake 大約 4,5 km/h (2,8 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

It is a rear-fanged snake, with enlarged grooved teeth at the back of the upper jaw that help it subdue prey.1

In Canada, it is federally listed as Endangered, because its small population is threatened by habitat loss.1

Females are generally longer and heavier than males.1

It is mainly active at night and at dusk, which is why it has the name nightsnake.1

破解迷思

迷思： It is a juvenile rattlesnake.

真相： It is a separate species. It has no rattle and its back scales are smooth.1

給毒液專家

學名: Hypsiglena chlorophaea
類群: 後毒牙蛇
家人: Colubridae2
排序: Squamata
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: It lays eggs. Females lay a single clutch of 2 to 9 eggs, usually around 4, between April and July, hidden in rock crevices or abandoned burrows. The eggs hatch in late summer, and the hatchlings are about 17 cm long.1
牠在野外的狀況: Least Concern globally (IUCN); Endangered in Canada (COSEWIC)1
對人的危險: 1 / 5: 輕微3