Masticophis taeniatus is found from central Texas and neighboring Mexico through Arizona and Utah to Nevada, northern California, Oregon, and southern Washington. (Stebbins 1985)

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) The range extends from southeastern Washington and southern Idaho south through Oregon, eastern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, western and central Texas, Chihuahua, western Coahuila, Durango, and Zacatecas to northeastern Jalisco; the eastern and southern range limits in Mexico are poorly understood (Camper and Dixon 1994). The elevational range extends to 3,077 meters in Inyo County, California (Stumpel 1995, Herpetological Review 26:102).

This is a slender snake with an adult length of 36 to 72 inches (90-183 cm). Dorsally the snake is typically dark brown to gray or blue, with three light stripes on each side with a color range from grey to white. The side stripe is divided by a broken to continous dark band. The dorsal scales are smooth, in fifteen rows at midbody. The anal plate is divided. (Stebbins 1985; Bartlett and Tenant 2000).

Length: 183 cm

Differs from M. SCHOTTI in (a) lacking paired light speckling on the dorsal scales and red or pink pigment immediately posterior to the angle of the jaw and (b) having the dorsal head plates edged in cream or white (Camper and Dixon 1994).

• Terrestrial

In the southern part of its range this species is associated with open woodlands in mountainous terrain. In the north it is found in high altitude woodlands, as well as in desert scrub, grassland, and juniper-studded rangelands at the lower altitudes. Striped whipsnakes can often be found near pond and river edges where water is readily available and amphibians can be found. (Bartlett and Tenant 2000).

Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; mountains

Comments: Habitats include shrublands, arid grasslands, sagebrush flats, canyons, pinyon-juniper woodland, pine-oak woodland, and rocky stream courses. Microhabitats are terrestrial and arboreal. This snake retreats underground or into deep crevices in cold weather. Eggs usually are laid in abandoned small mammal burrows (sometimes communal with conspecifics or with other snake species).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

In Utah, males migrated an average of 992 m, females 1455 m, between winter den and summer range (Parker and Brown 1980).

The striped whipsnake eats amphibians, smaller snakes, and lizards. Three other important prey to the whipsnake are bird nestlings, bird eggs, and rodents. This snake is an active hunter that finds its food by vision and scent trailing, although vision plays the larger role out of the two. Juvenile whipsnakes consume insects, including crickets, locusts, and cicadas. (Bartlett and Tenant 2000).

Comments: Young eat mainly lizards; adults eat mainly lizards and small mammals (Parker and Brown 1980). Also eats insects and small birds (Stebbins 1985).

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

Comments: This species is represented by a very large number of occurrences or subpopulations. Camper (1996) mapped hundreds of collection sites.

100,000 - 1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Total adult population size is unknown but likely exceeds 100,000. This snake is relatively common in many areas in the United States. It is apparently uncommon or rare in the southern part of the range in Mexico.

In Utah, population density was about 0.11-0.33/ha (excluding snakes less than 1 year old) (Parker and Brown 1980).

Comments: Active mainly April-October in Colorado and Utah (Hammerson 1982, Nussbaum et al. 1983).

Females lay 3 to 12 bumpy-shelled eggs in the spring or early summer. The eggs take two to three months to hatch, and the slender young are about 14 inches long. (Stebbins 1985; Bartlett and Tenant 2000).

Lays clutch of 3-12 eggs, June-July; eggs hatch in 50-57 days, August-September; females are sexually mature in 2-3 years (Stebbins 1985, Nussbaum et al. 1983).

Fairly common in parts of its range, especially near water.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Moderately vulnerable

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Comments: Extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size probably are relatively stable or declining at a rate of less than 10 percent over 10 years or three generations.

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of 10-25% to decline of 30%

Comments: No major threats have been identified. Locally, some populations are declining as a result of habitat destruction and road mortality.

Global Protection: Very many (>40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: Many occurrences in the United States are in protected areas. In the southern extent of the range in Mexico the species occurs in few if any protected areas.

This is an aesthetically interesting snake that probably helps to control rodent numbers in rangeland.

Comments: Camper and Dixon (1994) examined geographic variation in morphological and protein characters and concluded that populations of striped whipsnakes in southern Texas and eastern Mexico allocated to M. t. schotti, M. t. ruthveni, and M. t. australis are not conspecific with those of M. t. taeniatus and M. t. girardi of the western United States and Mexico. The populations in southern Texas and eastern Mexico were elevated to species status as M. schotti, and nominal subspecies australis was synonymized with subspecies ruthveni (hence, M. schotti includes two subspecies, schotti and ruthveni, and M. taeniatus includes two subspecies, taeniatus and girardi).

Crother et al. (in Crother 2008) cited published studies in transferring all Masticophis species to the genus Coluber, but they also stated that there is unpublished evidence that would reject this. Pending publication of further data, we retain Masticophis as a valid genus.