Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Greene, IT.
1991
August 4 (continued)
located C. molossus #3 ~50m east of this AM's site,
across the road (S. side). Snake is stretched out w/
slight curves, immobile, and slow tongue-flicks -
probably saw me. It is on the N. edge of the bottom of
the Silver Creek channel, amidst junipers and rocks. I
head back, and 1.3 mi. W. of Portal Rd. on the Paradise Rd.
at 1630h I see an adult ♀ C. molossus (930+69mm,
455g) frozen, rod straight in mid road, head up-
slope. She coils, rattles, and makes a couple of
flash strikes as I catch her w/ tongs. Drove down to
Hwy 80 and back. At 1735h C. molossus #3 is
on the N. side of the road near the top of a 4m
high embankment, ~50m farther E. of last site.
Snake is stretched out w/ faint curve, immobile, head
turned back toward me (I approached on the road).
I walked W. to touch, drove down & checked embankment
w/ binoculars at 1740h - no snake! At 1751h I found
him shielded in open, immobile, ~30m NE of last
site. I dropped to ground out of view and w/in seconds
he resumes crawling slowly, moving rectilinear, w/
lots of tongue flicks. Travels ~20m to the W. by 1806h
when I leave. After dinner I road hunted to Hwy 80 on
Portal Rd., got only two fresh kit ♀ adult Pituophis ; saw
3 dead neonate, 1 dead small adult, and 1 live small
adult C. atrox.
August 5
I located C. molossus ♂ #3 at 0847h, ~75m NW and
uphill from last site, crawling stretched out under a