Leeward island racer

The Leeward Island racer is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Anguilla, Saint Barthélemy, and is probably extirpated from Sint Maarten.

Taxonomy

It was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1869, the specific name honouring the Dutch government physician in St. Maarten, Hendrik Elingsz van Rijgersma, who was an avid amateur naturalist.

Conservation

It was thought to have been eradicated by the mongoose. However, in 1992 there was a report of five specimens that were captured at Mary's Fancy, and in the same year one was observed in the field. A snake was also seen after the hurricane in January 1996 during a field trip at Flagstaf. Snakes of the genus Alsophis and Liophis prove to be more sensitive to introduced predators than other genera. A. rijgersmaei is not rare in mongoose-free Anguilla and St. Barths, and other species of the same genus are common in other mongoose-free islands of the Lesser Antilles, even though dogs and cats have probably been living on these islands for hundreds of years.