PHOTO OF THE WEEK: A PINK SNAKE IN EAST COUNTY?

July 2015 Articles

July 29, 2015 (Lakeside) – Who knew we had pink or red snakes in East County?

Sarka-Jonae Miller snapped this photo in Lakeside today near the Santee border, close to Riverford Road off State Route 67. Our researcher team soon identified the reptile as a red racer snake, also known as a red coachwhip for its tail that appears braided like a whip.

Red racers are fast-moving snakes that are not poisonous and will sometimes eat other snakes. They do not make good pets, however, as they can be aggressive and bite handlers, also emitting a foul odor or even playing dead to trick predators to leave it alone.

They are fairly common in our desert areas and can climb trees or even cacti in search of its prey.

View more images at http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.f.piceus.html

Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.