Identification and Pattern: Ribbon snakes are a type of garter snake identifiable by the white crescent just before the eye. Other methods of identification include the placement of the white stripes. Like most garter snakes, the ribbon snake has a light stripe down its back and two on the side. Those on the sides are found on the third and fourth scale rows, differentiating them from other garter snake species. These stripes are used by the snake as a method of escaping predators. Longitudinal stripes can give the illusion that the animal is moving much slower than it actually is. This is beneficial as a predator would attack where it thinks the snake is rather than where it is going, causing it to miss or be redirected to the tail which lacks major organs. This method of using stripes to avoid predation is known as the “redirection hypothesis” and is believed to be used by many snake and lizard species.
Predator Defense: Ribbon snakes have a unique predator defense one wouldn’t pertain to a snake. Ribbon snakes and some other snake species, such as garter and red-bellied snakes, among others, have been observed having their tails drop when threatened. The tail, filled with nerves, continues twitching after falling off, distracting the potential predator long enough for the snake to escape. While this defense mechanism is similar to some lizards, there are many differences. One of which, is that the snake cannot regrow its tail and it will instead remain as a nub with the tip eventually healing over. Unlike a lizard, the snake does not actively drop its tail, it only falls off due to the fragility of it, breaking off between the vertebrate. In contrast to this, a lizard’s tail can drop at specific week points where they can constrict the nerves and blood vessels, from here, for some species, a new, cartilaginous tail will grow.
Sources:
"Eastern Ribbonsnake." Ontario Nature, 2021, ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/eastern-ribbonsnake/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. Murali, Gopal, and Ullasa kodandaramaiah. "Deceived by Stripes: Conspicuous Patterning on Vital Anterior Body Parts can Redirect Predatory Strikes to Expendable Posterior Organs." National Center for Biotechnology Information, The Royal Society Publishing, 8 June 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4929900/?fbclid=IwAR3fEurPJskmo1WIqzHrSDP_UqKdQAwcPutbw5SerAcu1mnyjlKopebQ430. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. Powell, Robert, et al. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2016, pp. 430-31. Todd, Josie, and Richard Wassersug. "Caudal Pseudoautotomy in Eastern Ribbon Snake Thamnophis sauritus." BRILL, Amphibia-Reptilia, 1 Jan. 2010, brill.com/view/journals/amre/31/2/article-p213_6.xml?fbclid=IwAR1-v0yYhuzbRQoHklltnOe9ZS06zLZwZnT7OiiYSj_EkXZ0qEk9nH58wWY. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. |