California Striped Racer

Description:

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

Habitat:

Chaparral at 9am in 85F temperature ~1,500 ft elevation. "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.) " - California Herps