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Coast nightsnake

Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha · Snakes · Reptiles

Coast nightsnake (Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha): 12-26 in (300-660 mm) snout-vent length (theNAT). This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Coast nightsnake — verified North Ground species photograph
North Ground · All rights reserved
Scientific name
Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Northern California south through western California to southern Baja California (NatureServe).
Biology

How to identify it

12-26 in (300-660 mm) snout-vent length (theNAT). [1][2][3]

Compared with the desert nightsnake: Listed by theNAT as a similar species; no distinguishing marks were published on the pages read. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a coast nightsnake before you act. Compared with the desert nightsnake: Listed by theNAT as a similar species; no distinguishing marks were published on the pages read.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Arid and semiarid plains, canyons and hillsides, usually rocky, dissected terrain with sandy or gravelly soil, including desert, grassland, shrubland, savanna and woodland (NatureServe). [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Eats mainly lizards and lizard eggs (NatureServe). [1][2][3]

Spends inactive periods under rocks or other surface cover, in crevices or underground (NatureServe). [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Northern California south through western California to southern Baja California (NatureServe).

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. San Diego Natural History Museum (theNAT Amphibian and Reptile Atlas of Peninsular California) · reviewed 2026-09-30

    San Diego Natural History Museum (theNAT Amphibian and Reptile Atlas of Peninsular California)

  3. Idaho Department of Fish and Game · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Idaho Department of Fish and Game