Best Of Tucson®

Best Weird Critter Living in Tucson

Western Threadsnake

Sometimes called the Western blind snake, this little guy looks like a weird shiny earthworm with scales. Leptotyphlops humilis is found across much of Southern Arizona. Turns out there's a mysterious colony of them living all across Tucson. Spending most of their time underground, they eat ants, termites and other small bugs. Once in a great while, you'll see them on a sidewalk at night. They're completely harmless, but if you pick them up, they'll wiggle a lot, poke at you with their tail and give off a musky odor as a defense. It's said that small owls sometimes pick them up and drop them in their nests, where the snakes feed on owl parasites. Pretty cool, huh?
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