A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Coluber taeniatus taeniatus - Desert Striped Whipsnake

= Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

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Adult, Inyo County. © William Flaxington

Adult, San Bernardino County
© Brad Alexander

Adult, Inyo County © John Stoklosa

Adult, Inyo County

After years of seeing and chasing but never being able to catch or even photograph this fast-moving species of snake, I stumbled across one laying still in the grass beside an Inyo County desert spring, and quickly grabbed it before it raced off. I was far from my car with nothing to temporarily hold the snake (I was not hunting for snakes...) and there was nobody with me to help me wrangle it, so after it stopped striking viciously at me (that's why we call them "nastycophis") I took several quick but unsatisfactory pictures of the snake while holding it in one hand, as seen above and below left. Next, I put the snake on the ground very slowly, to try to get a full-body shot without my hands in the picture. I hoped I'd get lucky and the snake would sit still for a moment after I set it down. This usually works with most snakes after they have calmed down, as if they realize that I'm not going to be a serious threat. I found a clear patch of ground a couple of yards from the nearest brush and set the snake down holding it with my left hand, my camera at ready in the other hand, then I slowly removed my hand from the snake and stood up. Before I could push the camera's shutter button even once, the snake exploded into motion and raced into the dense brush about 20 feet away. I had no chance of catching it or even seeing it again. Sometimes that's just the way it goes with snake photography. Fortunately, a few other photographers whose work is seen on this page had better luck than me. Since this incident, I have seen and failed to photograph several more of these speedy snakes.

Adult, Inyo County

Adult, foraging in brush, 6,000 ft. Inyo Co. © Ceal Klingler

Adult, Iron County, Utah. © Jackson Shedd

Adult, Esmeralda Co. Nevada
© Brad Alexander

Adult, Inyo County © Richard Porter

Adult, SE Oregon © Jeremiah Easter

Habitat

Habitat, Lassen County

Habitat, 4,400 ft. Siskiyou county

Desert Riparian Habitat,
Inyo Mountains, Inyo County

Habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, Mono County

Desert Riparian Habitat,
Inyo Mountains, Inyo County

Habitat, Inyo County

Description

Nonvenomous

Considered harmless to humans.

Size

Adults are 24 - 67 inches long (61 - 170 cm.) hatchlings are about 14 inches long ( 36 cm.)

Appearance

A fast-moving snake with a long thin body and tail, a broad elongated head, large eyes, a slender neck, and smooth scales. Olive, blackish, brown or dark gray on top and cream below which becomes yellow or pink toward the tail. Grayish white or cream stripes runing lengthwise along the sides with narrow dark lines, often broken into dashes, running down the middle of the light stripes.

Behavior

A very fast-moving alert diurnal snake with good vision that is difficult to approach. Often crawls away very quickly when frightened, but when cornered will strike fiercely. Forages with the head elevated off the ground using vision more than scent to find prey. A good climber, often moving quickly through bushes.

Diet

Eats lizards, snakes, small mammals, birds and bird eggs, amphibians. Juveniles will eat insects.

Reproduction

Mates soon after emergencee in the spring. Males will engage in combat for access to females. Lays eggs in June and July which hatch in 2 - 3 months.

Range

In California, occurs from Siskiyou county, near the junction of the north and south forks of the Salmon river, east into the Great Basin region of the northeast corner, down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains south into the Owens Valley and along the California Nevada border. Ranges farther north into Oregon, Eastern Washington and Idaho, and south and east into Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and extreme west Texas and south into Mexico. Occurs as high as 10,100 feet (3077 m) in the White Mountains.

Habitat

Occurs in open brushy country - desert scrub, sagebrush flats, mixed woodlands. Often found along the edges of rivers or ponds.

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."

There is one other subspecies of Coluber taeniatus - C. t. ornatus - Central Texas Whipsnake, which occurs east of the range of C. t. taeniatus.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Coluber	North American Racers, Coachwhips and Whipsnakes
Species	taeniatus	Striped Whipsnake
Subspecies	taeniatus	Desert Striped Whipsnake
Original Description
Masticophis taeniatus - (Hallowell, 1852) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 181 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 taeniatus - Latin - striped - refers to the ribbon-like striped pattern from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus - Desert Striped Whipsnake
Related or Similar California Snakes
S. h. mojavensis - Mohave Patch-nosed Snake C. l. lateralis - California Striped Racer C. f. piceus - Red Racer
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game 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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