Rubber boa (Charina bobttae) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 8

Limiting Factors and Threats

Although relatively cold tolerant and active at low temperatures, Rubber Boas may be limited in their distribution by the short summers experienced in much of Canada that do not provide pregnant females with enough warm days to complete development of their embryos. Where populations do exist in Canada, the population growth rate may be low due to the combination of late maturation, small litter size and biennial or less frequent parturition. Therefore, populations will be slow to respond to disturbance. Forest management practices that remove coarse woody debris from harvest areas will severely reduce habitat quality for Rubber Boas living in the area, unless significant rock cover remains. Other human activities, such as intensive agriculture and urban development, are likely to decrease the amount of suitable habitat available to the Rubber Boa and also increase road area and traffic. As with many snakes, Rubber Boas are known to bask on roadways at night and are periodically killed by vehicular traffic. The species’ long-lived life history makes it intolerant of even small chronic increases in mortality rates.

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