Animal profile

Rosy Boa

Lichanura trivirgata

ReptiliaRocky desert, boulder fields, canyon slopes and desert scrubLeast Concern

Field profile

The rosy boa is a small, slow-moving desert boa marked with three broad longitudinal stripes on a pale ground. It is one of only two boa species native to the United States. It shelters in rock crevices and hunts small mammals at night by constriction.

Published field notes

2024-02-27

Rosy Boa

Only two boa species live in the United States

Boas are overwhelmingly a tropical American group, but two small species reach the deserts of the southwest. The rosy boa is one; the rubber boa, which ranges as far north as British Columbia, is the other.

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