Terre-de-Haut racer
species of reptile
The Terre-de-Haut racer (Alsophis sanctonum) is a species of snake found in the Caribbean, on the Lesser Antilles. This species is endemic to Terre-de-Bas Island and Terre-de-Haut Island which make up the Îles des Saintes. Terre-de-Bas and Terre-de-Haut are very small islands with a total area of approximately 13 km2. Because of its presence only on this small area, it is a highly protected species.
It can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on lizards and small rodents. It rarely bites humans, but may release a foul-smelling (though harmless) cloacal secretion when disturbed.
Habitat
Alsophis sanctonum occurs along mangrove edges, roadsides, gardens, wooded areas, preferentially in semi-deciduous forest with Pimenta racemosa, Pisonia subcordata, Guapinol, and Bursera simaruba. It is present in areas less frequented by humans.
Subspecies
A. sanctonum sanctonum Barbour, 1915 or Terre-de-Haut racer.
The public source identifies “Terre-de-Haut racer” as species of reptile. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Terre-de-Haut, racer and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2384245. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1915.
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This entry incorporates text from “Terre-de-Haut racer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.