Range in California: Green
Red: California Striped Racer
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Adult, Contra Costa County |
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Adult, Contra Costa County |
Adult, Contra Costa County
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Habitat, Contra Costa County |
Fig. 1 |
 Fig. 2 |
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| I was hiking on a mountain trail (Fig.1) one summer morning, watching a California Whiptail walking on the trail a few yards ahead of me, when I saw the lizard slowly walk off the trail into some dry grass. In an instant the lizard rapidly turned around and raced back across the trail, kicking up a small cloud of dust. I turned to see an Alameda Striped Racer with its head held high in typical predatory mode (Fig. 2). The snake saw me standing between itself and the lizard and abandoned its chase then froze in position for a few seconds giving me just enough time to pull out my little automatic camera and shoot a picture before the snake turned and crawled into a hole underneath a nearby fallen log. That was my first Alameda Striped Racer sighting and it was at least a year before I got another opportunity to photograph this very fast and wary snake. |
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Habitat, East Bay Hills, Contra Costa County |
Habitat, Contra Costa County |
Habitat, Contra Costa County |
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Signs, Contra Costa County
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Description |
Nonvenomous |
| Considered harmless to humans. |
| Size |
| Adults are generally 3 - 4 feet long (91 - 122 cm) and ocassionally reach 5 ft. (152cm.) Hatchlings are about 13 inches long (33 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. Dark brown to black with a wide orange solid stripe on each side extending from the back of the eye to or beyond the vent. The stripes are "broad, 1 and 2 half-scale rows wide."(Stebbins) The underside is cream tapering to orange or pink toward the tail. |
| Behavior |
| Dirunal, 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. Like most Masticophis this snake will strike repeatedly and bite viciously when threatened or handled. |
| 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 is endemic to California. It occurs only in a small area on the east side of the San Francisco Bay in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. |
| Habitat |
| Open areas in canyons, rocky hillsides, chaparral scrublands, open woodlands, pond edges, stream courses. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
Masticophis lateralis is split into two subspecies - M. l. euryxanthus - Alameda Striped Racer, and M. l. lateralis - California Striped Racer.
Nagy et al. (2004, J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 42:223-233) restricted the genus Coluber to the New World.
Utiger et al. (2005, Russian Journal of Herpetology 12:39-60) supported Nagy et al. and synonymized Masticophis with Coluber. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Protected as a threatened species by the state of California and the Federal government due to its limited range and available habitat. Human development has fragmented this snake's originally continuous range into five populations. Aproximately 60 percent of this snake's habitat is owned by the public. In 1999 the status of this snake was listed as Declining. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Colubridae |
Colubrids |
| Genus |
Masticophis |
Whipsnakes, Striped Racers, and Coachwhips |
| Species |
lateralis |
Striped Racer |
Subspecies
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euryxanthus |
Alameda Striped Racer |
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Original Description |
Masticophis lateralis - (Hallowell, 1853) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 237
Masticophis lateralis euryxanthus - (Riemer, 1954) - Copeia, p. 45
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Masticophis - Greek - mastix - whip and ophis - snake - refers to the body shape and braided appearance of tail
lateralis - Latin - of the side - referring to the lateral stripes
euryxanthus - Greek - eurys - broad or wide and xanthos - yellow - referring to lateral striping
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Alameda Whipsnake
Coluber lateralis euryxanthus - Alameda Striped Racer
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
M. l. lateralis - California Striped Racer
C. constrictor mormon - Western Yellow-bellied Racer
T. a. zaxanthus - Diablo Range Gartersnake
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Center for Bioligical Diversity
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.
Thelander, Carl G., editor in chief. Life on the Edge - A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources - Wildlife. Berkeley: Bio Systems Books, 1994.
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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.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
FT |
Threatened |
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
ST |
Threatened |
| California Department of Fish and Game |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G2 |
Imperiled |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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None |
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Fig. 2 
