Description: Masticophis lateralis is 3.0 to 3.9 feet in total length (including tail). It is slender, with a yellowish stripe along each side, set against a dark brown or black back.

Habitat: Open areas in canyons, rocky hillsides, brushy chaparral, scrub, open woodlands, pond edges, stream courses, desert riparian corridors. "Ranges into open flatland desert in central Baja California"

Range: The species Masticophis lateralis - Striped Racer, is found only in California and Baja California, Mexico.

Found in these States: CA

Diet: Eats lizards (particularly spiny lizards), small rodents, small birds, frogs, salamanders, small snakes. Juveniles will consume large insects.

Reproduction: Females are oviparous, laying eggs in late spring or early summer which hatch in two to three months.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Subspecies: Two found in the United States
  Alamdeda Striped Racer - (Masticophis lateralis euryxanthus)
  California Striped Racer - (Masticophis lateralis lateralis)

Taxonomy: