Tha Alterna Page - Image Gallery/Kinney County, Texas

The Alterna Page - The Online Resource Guide to the Gray-banded Kingsnake

Kinney County, Texas

Map by Jeff Barringer
Text by Joe Forks

click to enlarge

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Kinney is a rural county consisting of 1,393 square miles of transitional Chihuahuan Desert. It is the 235th largest of the 254 counties in Texas. As you travel west on US Highway 90 from the Uvalde county line, temperate trees, shrubs and grasses noticeably give way to desert terrain.

Plant life in the county is considered mainly riparian, with thornscrub the most prevalant. Associations include acacia, cenizo and mesquite, as well as sotol, lechugilla, and cacti. Evergreen sumac, several species of oak, and cedar are also quite prevalent in the county.

The major highways include US 90, running east - west, and FM 674 north south from US 90 to Rocksprings. FM 334 runs from Bracketville to Uvalde in a northeast then southeast trend. Other roads in the county include FM 3008 and FM 2523 in the western portion of the county, as well as FM 2804 and FM 3199 both to the north from US 90. South of US 90 are several smaller paved highways and highway 277 in the extreme southwest corner of the county.

CLIMATE

The average growing season in Kinney county is 270 days with the average first freeze generally occurring around Nov 26th. Rainfall in the county averages 21.10 inches per year compared to the Texas average of 21.0 inches per year. Rainfall can vary dramatically from year to year as evidenced by 18.0" of rain falling on Fort Clark in one 24 hour period June 14 -15, 1899.

POPULATION

In 1990 Kinney's population density was 1.90 residents per square mile, with an estimated population of 3,157 in 1991. The county seat of Kinney is Brackettville and the next most significant city is Spofford.

POPULAR L. alterna LOCALITIES

FM 2523
Lampropeltis alterna are known to occur on this road in northwestern Kinney county.Most of the suitable habitat occurs north of the intersection with FM 3008, although one D.O.R. was collected south of that intersection. There are only a few road cuts to hunt here and the main habitat is a considerable distance from the road. This makes collecting difficult at best and not very productive.

FM 3008
It would be possible to collect L. alterna on the north end of this road, but again, few road cuts are present and collecting is not very productive.

FM 674
This highway possibly affords the best collecting possibilities for the entire county. L. alterna are known to occur on the hill located 12 miles north of Bracketville. Vegetation is sparse in this area but the roadside is extremely rocky, and L. alterna are known to favor this sort of rip-rap situation. An additional specimen(s) are known from 22 miles north of Bracketville,just before the Edwards county line.

FM 3199
L. alterna are not known to occur here, however this locality lies directly downstream the west prong of the Nueces River on FM 674 where L. alterna have been documented. This is a short winding road tha turns to dirt after approximately 5 miles.

General
It should be noted that although L. alterna have been found in Kinney County, this is one of the easternmost known populations and fewer than 5 snakes have ever been collected here.