Monday, September 12, 2016

Snakes and Lizards

 We were treated this weekend to something we don't often see - a striped racer snake.   We saw one many years ago hanging out in bushes near our house.  Saturday we saw this small striped racer on our brick patio.  

 Stripped racers are also called California whipsnakes.  They are very quick, as this one was, and live in California's coastal and foothill areas.   The Eaton Canyon site has a nice photo and write up.   California Herps has a number of captioned photos of stripped racers and the lizards they prey on.  Stripped racers are known to tangle with alligator lizards.   Probably not coincidentally, we've had an abundance of lizards this summer, including this alligator below.