While hiking through the canyons of Utah and Arizona, we have encountered these long, thin snakes on several occasions. They grow up to 2.5 metres long . This one was spotted in Horseshoe Canyon, not far from the Great Gallery.

<a href=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Moab-One-436cr.jpg”><img class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-10937″ src=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Moab-One-436cr-509×640.jpg” alt=”Moab One 436cr” width=”509″ height=”640″ /></a>These snakes are not venomous. They are active during the day. This one moved quickly across the wash to the shelter of rocks. The name comes from its resemblance to a coiled whip. It feeds on other snakes, lizards, insects, rodents, frogs, and even small birds.

<a href=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Moab-One-435cr.jpg”><img class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-10938″ src=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Moab-One-435cr-620×359.jpg” alt=”Moab One 435cr” width=”620″ height=”359″ /></a>These snakes seize their prey by their mouths, then coil around the body of the victim. They are good climbers too and may go up into trees to avoid predators. Whipsnakes do not tolerate very hot temperatures so they hide out in cool recesses and under rocks during the hot days of summer, doing most of its hunting when the temperatures cool each night.

<a href=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Moab-One-433r.jpg”><img class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-10939″ src=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Moab-One-433r-620×519.jpg” alt=”Moab One 433r” width=”620″ height=”519″ /></a>Adults court in spring, and eggs are laid usually in abandoned rodent burrows. The eggs hatch in late August and are about 15″ long at birth. Snakes and other reptiles enter a state of dormancy in winter, lowering their metabolic rate until spring.

We saw them in the canyons in Zion again this fall, not far from the canyon floor in a wash, out hunting for its afternoon snack.