California striped racerColuber lateralis lateralis
Contrary to its common name, this striped racer was laying quite still in a ditch to the side of the road. While I did get fairly close, maybe too close than I should have, I did zoom and crop for the lovely close-up shot. The yellow stripe consists of 2 half-scales. The federally and state threatened C. lateralis euryxanthus has an additional fully yellow-colored scale in between the 2 half-scales.
6 comments:
wowser! What a shot. I have never seen this snake before. I find that snakes are often quite calm when taking their photos if you move slowly. It sure has its eyes on you. Congratulations on your visit with this beauty and I liked your explanation about the scales re different subspecies.
nice, close-up! snakes are fascinating.
Nice shots. I've found that most snakes will leave you alone if you leave them alone.
Nice shots. That's typ behavior for these high-speed rascals. They lie still doing the "does she see me?" in hopes you'll walk on by, but the moment you move towards it - whoosh. Gone.
Cindy, I'm surprised you haven't seen this snake, yet. Your snake posts are the most informative I've ever read. I've come to regard you as the local snake-lady bogger, even though your blog has so much more.
twg, it's always nice to hear from you. I bet you have several interesting snakes in your part of TX.
Yep, Joe, I discovered that lovely bit of snake advice when I tried to "nudge" a gopher snake to move off a heavily mountain-biked trail. It coiled up and acted like a rattler.
randomtruth, maybe their high speed is the reason why I think I've seen striped racers before and have never been able to take a picture of one until now.
Great sighting!
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