Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi Aug. 16, 1960 - Squaw meadows, Squaw Valley, Placer Co., Calif. - 6200 ft.; #22. About 10 feet farther east (from site of Hyla, #26 g.u.) a Thamnophis was taken. Here the south side of Squaw Creek is bordered with grass to its edge, which drops sharply about 2 1/2 feet to the water's surface. A drainage creek flows swiftly in to Squaw Creek here. The north bank is a wide (about 6 yards), gravel beach sloping gradually to the streams edge. The stream is about 6 inches deep, 5 or 5 yards wide, [illegible], and flows slowly, the bottom is gravelly. The snake was first seen on swimming from the south bank of the creek and was chased back and forth several times until caught when it tried to enter the drainage flowing into Squaw Creek. It made no attempt to dive, and swam with the head only slightly out of the water. It was caught about 5:15 P.M., the air was warm, although there was a cool breeze. The stripes were quite conspicuous and made the snake easier to see when it entered the sun's reflection. Dorsum generally very black brown from frontal to tip of tail, snout olivaceous-brown labials pale yellow, anterior and upper supra- labials olive-fused, edges black, chin and throat