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The consensus among people I've talked to so far is that this is most likely a hybrid or the offspring of a hybrid between Masticophis flagellum ruddocki and Masticophis lateralis lateralis. That being said, I'm interested to see if anyone thinks otherwise. Anyone know of other Masticophis hybrid records besides taeniatus x lateralis?

@meandthealiens and I found this snake in treeless desert habitat (more suitable for M. f. ruddocki).

Lyre being eaten by a striped racer. I will create a separate observation for the striped racer, located here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112218400 . Photo & observation by Bruce Pavalon

Around 5pm today in the middle of the road. Large 3ft or more snake. Hisisng, loud, almost like a rattle noise. But no tail rattle. Defensive while I kept distance. Aggressive. Never took its eyes off me. Opened mouth often. No teeth. Black eyes. Black tongue. Large center. Moments prior a large barred owl flew past my windshield and watched me as I approached snake. An epic moment in my day. I was going to pick up my son who was with a native medicine woman.

I found the larger snake dead on the road, but noticed a tail sticking out of its mouth. I made a small cut and pulled out the smaller snake. Evidently this species is prone to cannibalism.
Edit, September 2020: observation written up in Herpetological Review, number 51(3) Natural History Notes, page 623.

Alligator lizard is giving its best anti-predator defense against this hungry striped racer. "They tumbled and struggled for about a minute or two after I came across them on the road, but after a car passed by and spooked them, they released. The snake hurried into the bushes and the lizard escaped, leaving behind his tail. I was able to (photograph) both hurrying away." Photo and observation by B. Ehrhardt.
Alligator lizard observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/29090747

Alligator lizard is giving its best anti-predator defense against this hungry striped racer. "They tumbled and struggled for about a minute or two after I came across them on the road, but after a car passed by and spooked them, they released. The snake hurried into the bushes and the lizard escaped, leaving behind his tail. I was able to (photograph) both hurrying away." Photo and observation by B. Ehrhardt.
Striped racer observation here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/29091184

"I was told this was a two-striped garter (Thamnophis hammondii) but I've never seen them with this gray/red coloration before."

• Chris DeGroof

Observation and photos by Chris DeGroof, sent to rascals@nhm.org.