Description: A long (up to 70-inches in total length), slender snake with blue-gray to gray-green coloration on the neck grading to yellow-green at mid body and gray-brown toward the tail. There are two thin, white stripes on each side of the body extending from the neck to about mid-body before melting into the background color. On the mid-section a pair of light dots marks the anterior edge of each dorsal scale. The underside is white to cream grading to pale yellow under the tail. The eyes are large and the pupils are round. The scales are smooth. The lack of side stripes on the posterior portion of this snake’s body distinguishes it from the similar looking Striped Whipsnake which has side stripes running from neck to tail.

Habitat: It inhabits a variety of biotic communities including Arizona Upland Sonoran Desertscrub, Semidesert Grassland, Interior Chaparral, Madrean Evergreen Woodland, and the lower reaches of Great Basin Conifer Woodland. This snake is usually found above the flats on mountain slopes and canyons, in foothills, along ridges, and on steep rocky bajadas.

Range: This snake is found in most of the sub-Mogollon Rim mountain ranges of south-central and southeastern Arizona at elevations ranging from 1,000 feet to about 7,000 feet.

Found in these States: AZ| NM

Diet: This snake actively forages for lizards, snakes, bats, mice, rats, other small mammals, birds, and amphibians.

Reproduction: Egg -layers, breed in the spring, 6-13 eggs are laid about a month later and then hatch about two months after that.

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.

Taxonomy: