Random SCABIES Hikes

[Sunset]

yes you are right it is a gopher snake.

Go For That Gopher Snake lofi

[YOUTUBE]U_tT3gsYCA4[/YOUTUBE]

March 23, 2009 — Once again, i am not a snake person so i could very easily be wrong about any information provided here... but i believe this is a gopher snake. In California the only snakes you have to worry about are rattlesnakes... and they are generally quite self evident animals, heh. From my little bit of reseach this appears to be a San Diego gopher snake, Pituophis catenifer annectens.

Gopher snakes are non-venomous and in my experience not all that inclined to bite when handled gently. Some are more nervous and contantly try to escape when handled... but this fellow seemed to be somewhat ok with me handling it. Gopher snakes have a very cool trick which i have read about but never seen... they can shake their tail to mimic a rattlesnake... if they do it in dry leaf litter it even *sounds* kind of like a rattle snake! The can also hiss and puff up their body, but this is more defensive behaviour i have never seen in real life. Apparently for this subspecies, hatchlings are round 15"/38cm and adults can reach 4-5' (1.3-1.6m). I suspect this snake was a male, as i read that males are commonly found in spring when they are out actively searching for females to mate with.

This snake had some physical issues... its tail ended fairly abruptly and it had what appeared to be matching wounds on both sides of its "neck" area. There are some ~detail shots at the end of the video so if you are ze sensitive type you might want to turn it off at XXXXXX

This snake was found in the foothills of Ranchco Cucamonga, California, USA

[uploaded from a 10MB WMV]

 

[Sunset]

it depends on what your going to do with the rattle snake if your going to keep it in a cage then you need a liecenses to keep it. but if your going to take it and eat it then you dont need anything. sorry for my spelling.

 

[D3AdB0DYMAN]

nice videos

 

[cacoseraph]

thanks for the comments


i have been hiking more but i have a file conversion issue i need to work out before i can make more youtubes.


some pictures from recent hikes by my house in Alta Loma, CA, USA, though


Apiomerus bee assassin and bee in same frame, no action though

pretty flowers. might be parasitic

shed skin of a house centipede (Scutigeromorpha). no pede was in evidence under this rock

two mayfly type bugs of different colors doing it. well, sort of doing it.

baby gopher snake

a female (presumably) wolf spider (Lycosidae, on left in picture) by a (mature?) male Agelenidae grass spider

more pics to come



edit:
pictures of this crazy bug me and a guy from out of state and his buddy saw, by my house one night. i believe it feeds on plants, at least as an immature, and those "tails" are waxy extrusions

zoom --> http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/hunt/BL/2010secondHalf/greenfiberopticsbug03b.jpg

zoom --> http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/hunt/BL/2010secondHalf/greenfiberopticsbug04b.jpg

 

[cacoseraph]

Lytle Creek area

this is quite possibly the coolest waterfall i have seen in CA. it is 60-70+' (20m+) from top to bottom. i took this picture from around 200' (70m) away. a person is absolutely dwarfed by the height of it. this is less than 20 miles from my house

big version (1MB) http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/hunt/LC/high_fallsb.jpg


it might be hard to see in the little version, but this is two pictures stitched together. i stitch in MSPaint right now, but when i get up to using GIMP i should be able to make much better composite pictures

 

[cacoseraph]

Bufo boreas halophilus - California Toad
[YOUTUBE]SFMPMDa9D0c[/YOUTUBE]

only toad i have found in that area, but at least it is a big one

 

[Hamburglar]

Great videos... I have enjoyed watching and learning from them. They make me want to get out in nature more. I will look foward to your future posts.