Diet of the Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni)
Abstract
The Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni) is a large-bodied constrictor endemic to western Louisiana and eastern Texas (Sweet and Parker 1991). Surveys suggest that the species has declined in recent decades and is now restricted to isolated habitat patches (Reichling 1995; Rudolph et al. 2006). Pituophis ruthveni is listed as a Candidate Species under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS 2011), and as a threatened species by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD 2011).