A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Coluber lateralis lateralis - California Striped Racer

= Masticophis lateralis lateralis

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Green: Alameda Striped Racer

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Adult, San Diego County

Sub-adult, Monterey County

Adult, Kern County

Adult, Orange County, © Jason Jones

Sub-adult, Tuolumne County

Adult, Butte County © Jackson Shedd

Adult, San Diego County

Adult, Ventura County, © Patrick H. Briggs

Adult side stripe, San Diego County

Juvenile, Fresno County
© Patrick H. Briggs

Adult, Santa Clara County.
© Chad M. Lane

Adult, Los Angeles County
© Emily Chebul

Adult, Calaveras County.
© Chad M. Lane

Adult with a wide light stripe, El Dorado County. © Chad M. Lane

Adult, Solano County © Adam G. Clause

Adult from Alameda County within range of the Alameda Striped Racer -C. l. euryxanthus, but showing characteristics of the California Striped Racer.
© Lisa Williams

Breeding Behavior

Two adults mating in May, Santa Barbara County © Doug Campbell

Feeding Behavior

Mark McCormick © shot this series of a San Diego Alligator Lizard biting onto the neck of a lizard-eating California Striped Racer in San Bernardino County. After the lizard finally let go, the snake quickly raced up a steep 15 foot high cliff up into some branches.

Sean Kelly © shot this series of a California Striped Racer eating a male Great Basin Fence lizard in San Diego County.

Lonnie Fehr discovered this adult racer trying to eat a juvenile racer in an area adjacent to a smoldering fire in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County.

Adult hidden in the grass with head elevated, eating a Western Fence Lizard, Sonoma County.

A California Striped Racer, eats a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake -
Crotalus oreganus helleri, in Los Angeles County. © Anthony

Habitat

Habitat, Napa County

Habitat, Monterey County

Habitat, Tuolumne County

Habitat, 4,500 ft., Kern County

Habitat, Kern County. The large crack in this rock served as a den which also contained Western Yellow-bellied Racers and Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes.

Habitat, San Diego County mountains

Coastal habitat, San Diego County

Habitat, San Diego County Mountains

Short Video

A San Diego County California Striped Racer sits on the ground, then races off into the chaparral.

Description

Nonvenomous

Considered harmless to humans.

Size

Adults are generally 30 - 48 inches long (76 - 122 cm) occasionally reaching 60 inches (152 cm.) Hatchlings are about 13 inches long (33 cm.)

Appearance

A long thin body and tail, a broad elongated head, large eyes, a slender neck, and smooth scales. Dark olive brown, gray, or black ground coloring with a pale yellow or cream colored solid stripe on each side which extends from the back of the eye to or beyond the vent. The stripes are relatively narrow - "2 half-scale rows wide."(Stebbins) The underside is cream or pale yellow tapering to pink toward the tail.

The California Striped Racer subspecies differs from the very localized Alameda Striped Racer subspecies in having paler and narrower side stripes, a lighter back, distinct spotting under the head and neck, a dark line across the scale at the end of the nose, and an interrupted light stripe from the nose to the eye.

(The lack of a third stripe down the middle of the back can help distinguish this species from several sympatric gartersnake species.)

Behavior and Natural History

Diurnal, often seen actively foraging in the daytime with head and forward part of the body held up off the ground searching for prey with its acute vision. Climbs vegetation and seeks shelter in burrows, rocks, or woody debris. Very fast-moving and alert, quickly fleeing when threatened, this snake is difficult to get close to. May strike repeatedly and bite viciously when threatened or handled. Sometimes kept in a terrarium in an artificial habitat of wood chips and fake plants.

Diet

Eats lizards, small rodents, small birds, frogs, salamanders, small snakes. Juveniles will consume large insects.

Reproduction

Lays eggs in late spring or early summer which hatch in two to three months.

Range

This subspecies, Coluber lateralis lateralis - California Striped Racer, occurs from near Dunsmuir in Siskiyou County east to the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, south along the Sierra foothills to southern California and south along the coast to near sea level, to northern Baja California. Occurs east in Southern California to the desert foothills. Absent from the far north coast, the great valley, the deserts, and elevations over 7,400 ft. (2,250 m.)

The species Coluber lateralis - Striped Racer, is found only in California and Baja California, Mexico.

Habitat

Open areas in canyons, rocky hillsides, brushy chaparral, scrub, open woodlands, pond edges, stream courses.

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."

Coluber lateralis is split into two subspecies -
C. l. euryxanthus - Alameda Striped Racer, and
C. l. lateralis - California Striped Racer.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Coluber	North American Racers, Coachwhips and Whipsnakes
Species	lateralis	Striped Racer
Subspecies	lateralis	California Striped Racer
Original Description
Masticophis lateralis - (Hallowell, 1853) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 237 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 lateralis - Latin - of the side - referring to the lateral stripes from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Chaparral Whipsnake Coluber lateralis lateralis - California Striped Racer
Related or Similar California Snakes
C. l. euryxanthus - Alameda Striped Racer C. constrictor mormon - Western Yellow-bellied Racer T. e. elegans - Mountain Gartersnake T. hammondii - Two-striped Gartersnake S. h. virgultea - Coast Patch-nosed Snake M. f. piceus - Red Racer
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012. Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972. 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

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 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)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife	None
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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