Summary ³

The California Whipsnake, Masticophis lateralis, and also known as the Striped Racer, is a colubrid snake. It is found in habitats of the coast, desert, and foothills of California.

Habitat ⁴

Comments: Habitats include chaparral foothills, shrublands with scattered grassy patches, rocky canyons and watercourses, oases in drier regions, mixed deciduous and pine woodlands in the mountains, and semidesert (in Baja California) (Grismer 2002, Stebbins 2003). This snake retreats underground or under cover when inactive. It lays eggs probably most often in abandoned rodent burrows, perhaps also in other protected sites underground or under imbedded objects.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Bill Bouton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/2770731517/
2. (c) randomtruth, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/58096907@N00/5675856047
3. Adapted by Michelle S. Koo from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masticophis_lateralis_euryxanthus
4. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28827423

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• Snake Database
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

iNat Map