Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus, also known commonly as the coast night snake and the spotted night snake, is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to California in the United States and to the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. There are eight recognized subspecies.
H. ochrorhynchus is oviparous. Eight subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus baueri Zweifel, 1958 Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus gularis W. Tanner, 1954 Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus klauberi W. Tanner, 1946
Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus martinensis W. Tanner & Banta, 1962 Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus nuchalata W. Tanner, 1943 Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus ochrorhynchus Cope, 1860 Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus tortugaensis W. Tanner, 1946 Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus venusta Mocquard, 1899
The subspecific name, baueri, is in honor of American entrepreneur Harry J. Bauer (1886–1960) for his support of the 1958 Puritan-American Museum expedition to Baja California. The subspecific name, klauberi, is in honor of American herpetologist Laurence Monroe Klauber. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orange County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coast Night Snake sighting in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 16th most-seen of the 17 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coast Night Snake in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months. Those are among Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in January.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Coast Night Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, in our data
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Coast Night Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Coast Night Snake that you can see in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (about 30%), Gopher Snake (about 30%) and California Mountain Kingsnake (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Coast Night Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
