Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Greene, lt.
1990
August 18 road since last night - now under the first large
(continued) juniper north of the road, in the same arroyo, on its
west bank - stretched out and frozen. At 0858hr
we located C. molossus ♂ #6 ±2-3 meters S of
yesterday's site, coiled w/ tail hidden - he is still
just off and west of the little N-S mining road.
At 0908hr, we found C. molossus ♀ #5 in a tight
coil, same place as yesterday. At 0939hr, we
found ♂, molossus ♂ #1 mating w/ an unwashed ♀,
±30-40 m west of yesterday's side, slightly higher
on the slope and perhaps 10-15 meters below some
rim rocks. The pair was in partial shade,
stretched up slope and parallel to the edge of
a ±20-30cm deep slab ≥2m long, w/ dense
vegetation at its upper end. When we arrived
their posteriors were in partial sun. ♀ was
stretched out, head and neck angled to the E;
the male parallel and against her ±1/2 his body
length, head and neck extended straight
past her angle for 30cm, then also turned
E. At 0949hr she moved her posterior slightly
and he turned back w/ chin movements - short,
jerkly, lateral, against his body. Occasionally
her tail rippled or contracted. At 1620hr she
moved upslope a few cm - possibly in
response to us, but I think more likely to gain
more shade. His tail jerked and he turned