California Reptiles & Amphibians

Coluber constrictor mormon (=Coluber mormon) - Western Yellow-bellied Racer

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Adult, Tule Lake, Siskiyou County

Adult, San Mateo County

Adult, Yuba County

Juvenile 1, San Mateo County

Juvenile 2, San Mateo County

Adult, San Luis Obispo County
© Andrew Harmer

Adult, San Mateo County

Adult, Sonoma County

Juvenile, Kern County
© Brad Alexander

Juvenile, Butte County
© Jackson Shedd

Adult, Tulare County © Patrick Briggs

Adult, Yakima County, Washington

Adult, Lassen County © Loren Prins

Adult, Santa Cruz Island © Luke Caldwell

Adult, Del Norte County.
© Alan D. Barron

Adult crossing a road in late afternoon, Modoc Plateau, Siskiyou County

Habitat, Sacramento County

Habitat, Marin County

Habitat, San Mateo County

Habitat, 4,000 ft., Siskiyou County

Habitat, Glenn County

Description

Nonvenomous

Considered harmless to humans.

Size

Adults are 20-75 inches long (51-190 cm), typically under 3 feet long. Hatchlings are 8 - 11 inches long.

Appearance

Slender with large eyes, a broad head and a slender neck, smooth scales, and a long thin tail. Plain brown, blue-grey, or olive-green to green above and unmarked off-white or yellowish below. Young with dark blotches on sides and saddled markings on the back. At one time juveniles were thought to be a different species from the adults due to the difference in appearance.

Behavior

Active in daylight. Mainly terrestrial, but also a good climber. Moves very quickly. Hunts crawling with head held high off the ground, sometimes moving it from side to side. Prey is killed by being quickly overcome and captured, crushed with the jaws or trapped under the body, and swallowed alive. Despite the species name, it is not a constrictor. Often bites agressively. Can be found at denning sites along with other species of snakes.

Diet

Eats lizards, small mammals, birds, eggs, snakes, small turtles and frogs, and large insects.

Reproduction

Lays eggs in early summer.

Range

Found throughout most of california north and west of the Sierras, and south along the coast to the Baja California border, from sea level to around 7,000 ft. elevation. Also found on Santa Cruz Island. Ranges north into Canada, and east into western Colorado. The species Coluber ranges south to Guatemala and east to the Atlantic.

Habitat

Prefers open areas with sunny exposure - meadows, grassland, sagebrush flats, brushy chaparral, woodlands, riparian areas such as pond edges, and forest openings. Found in arid and moist habitats, but not usually found in deserts or high mountains.

Taxonomic Notes

Coluber constrictor consists of 11 subspecies, but some herpetologists consider C. c. mormon to be a full species, Coluber mormon. Further research may show that there are several independant lineages within C. constrictor.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

Common and abundant in much of its range, but absent from some areas along the south coast.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Coluber	North American Racers
Species	mormon	Western Yellow-bellied Racer
Original Description
Coluber mormon - Baird and Girard, 1852 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 70 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Coluber - Latin - coluber snake or serpent constrictor - Latin - one that constricts - misnomer, genus does not constrict mormon - Mormon - "found by Capt. Howard Stansbury's party, in the valley of the Great Salt Lake" settled by Mormon religionists from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Western Racer Western Yellowbelly Racer Coluber mormon (full species)
Related or Similar California Snakes
M. f. ruddocki - San Joaquin Coachwhip M. f. piceus - Red Coachwhip P. c. annectens - San Diego Gophersnake P. c. catenifer - Pacific Gophersnake M. l. lateralis - California Striped Racer M. l. euryxanthus - Alameda Striped Racer
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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