Range in California: Green
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies
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Adult, San Luis Obispo County |
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Adult, San Luis Obispo County |
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Adult, Kings County
© Patrick H. Briggs |
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| Adult, Fresno County © Richard Porter |
Long, "braided" tail |
Habitat |
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| Habitat, Kings County |
Habitat, San Joaquin County |
Habitat, San Luis Obispo County
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Habitat, San Joaquin County |
Habitat, Kings County |
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| Habitat, Fresno County |
Habitat, San Joaquin County |
Habitat, Alameda County |
Short Video |
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This slender and very fast-moving snake races across a dirt road.
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Description |
Nonvenomous |
| Considered harmless to humans. |
| Size |
| Adults of this subspecies are 36 - 59 inches long (91 - 150 cm.) Hatchlings are about 13 inches long. |
| Appearance |
| A slender fast-moving snake with smooth scales, a large head and eyes, and a thin neck. Large scales above eyes. 17 scale rows at mid body. Color is tan, olive brown, or yellowish brown. Lacks the very dark head and neckbands of other subspecies. The braided appearance of scales on the tail (like a whip) gives this snake its common name. |
| Behavior |
| Very little is known about the natural history of this subspecies. M. flagellum is diurnal. Hunts crawling with the head held high above the ground, occasionally moving it from side to side. The prey is overcome and crushed with the jaws or beneath loops of the body and eaten without constriction. Often strikes agressively when threatened or handled. Good climbers, able to climb bushes and trees. Seen moving quickly even on hot sunny days, but often seen basking on roads in early morning or resting underneath boards or other surface objects. Frequently run over by vehicles and found dead on the road, partly due to the tendency of this snake to stop and eat road-killed small animals. |
| Diet |
| Eats small mammals including bats, nestling and adult birds, bird eggs, lizards, snakes, amphibians, and carrion. Hatchlings and juveniles will eat large invertebrates. |
| Reproduction |
| Presumably mates in May and lays eggs in early summer which hatch in 45 - 70 days. |
| Range |
| This subspecies is endemic to California, ranging from Arbuckle in the Sacramento Valley in Colusa County southward to the Grapevine in the Kern County portion of the San Joaquin Valley and westward into the inner South Coast Ranges. An isolated population occurs in the Sutter Buttes. From near 20 m to around 900 m. Apparently intergrades with M. f. piceus in eastern Kem County. |
| Habitat |
| Occurs in open, dry, treeless areas, including grassland and saltbush scrub. Takes refuge in rodent burrows, under shaded vegetation, and under surface objects. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
North American snakes formerly placed in the genus Masticophis have been changed to the genus Coluber based on a 2004 paper * by Nagy et al. Utiger et al. (2005, Russian Journal of Herpetology 12:39-60) supported Nagy et al. and synonymized Masticophis with Coluber. This has not been universally accepted. The most recent SSAR list has hinted that the genus Masticophis might be re-instated: "Burbrink (pers. comm.) has data to reject Nagy et al.’s hypothesis but we await publication of these data before reconsidering the status of Masticophis."
Five or six subspecies of Coluber flagellum are recognized. Only two occur in California, including the Red Racer - C. f. piceus (or three by those who recognize the Baja Coachwhip - Coluber fuliginosus to be a subspecies of C. flagellum - C. f. fuliginosus.)
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| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Designated a species of special concern by the state of California due to extensive land use changes in its restricted range, including conversion of large areas of suitable habitat to row crops in the San Joaquin Valley and urban development in areas of the inner Coast Ranges, both of which eliminate the snake's food base and the mammal burrows it uses for refuge. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Colubridae |
Colubrids |
| Genus |
Coluber |
North American Racers, Coachwhips and Whipsnakes |
| Species |
flagellum |
Coachwhip |
Subspecies
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ruddocki |
San Joaquin Coachwhip |
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Original Description |
Masticophis flagellum - (Shaw, 1802) - Gen. Zool., Vol. 3, p. 475
Masticophis flagellum ruddocki - Brattstrom and Warren, 1953 - Herpetologica, Vol. 9, p. 177
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Coluber - Latin - coluber snake or serpent
flagellum - Latin - whip - refers to the body shape and braided look of tail
ruddocki - honors Ruddock, John C.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
San Joaquin Whipsnake.
Masticophis flagellum ruddocki - San Joaquin Coachwhip
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
C. f. piceus - Red Racer
C. fuliginosus - Baja California Coachwhip
S. h. hexalepis - Desert Patch-nosed Snake
S. h. mojavensis - Mojave Patch-nosed Snake
S. h. virgultea - Coast Patch-nosed Snake
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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., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
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.
* Z. T. Nagy, Robin Lawson, U. Joger and M. Wink. Molecular systematics of Racers, Whipsnakes and relatives (Reptilia: Colubridae) using Mitochondrial and Nuclear Markers. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research (Volume 42 pages 223–233). 2004
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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.
Listed as San Joaquin Whipsnake.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
DFG:SSC |
California Species of Special Concern |
| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G5T2T3 S2? |
Secure |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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None |
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