Saturday, May 14, 2011

CA striped racer ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord


California striped racer
Coluber 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:

Cindy said...

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.

TexWisGirl said...

nice, close-up! snakes are fascinating.

Joe said...

Nice shots. I've found that most snakes will leave you alone if you leave them alone.

randomtruth said...

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.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

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.

Jim Maughn said...

Great sighting!