Mantecan’s snake shot tops wildlife photo contest

A shot of a chaparral whipsnake by Chad Lane of Manteca won an annual photo contest involving wildlife in the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley.

The Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, based in Twain Harte, awarded $150 for Lane’s photo of the snake in El Dorado County. It also is known as the California striped racer.

The $100 prize for second place went to Matt Lau of Petaluma for his photo of two cedar waxwings. Kaitlin Backlund of Truckee won the $50 third-place award for her shot of an ouzel, also known as American dipper.

Natalie Hawks of Sonora won the $100 prize in the youth division for the second year in a row with her photo of a goldfinch.

CSERC will display these photos and several other entries on its website, www.cserc.org. Some will be included in slide shows that it presents at schools.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Mantecan’s snake shot tops wildlife photo contest."