Tour de Snake

I usually spend at least 4 hours of my weekend road cycling in unbelievably gorgeous coastside San Mateo County, where I'm always on the lookout for snakes. This past Saturday paid off with two good catches.


07/11/2010 @ 12:43:07 PM PDT
At a little past the midway point of the 61-mile ride, my chain came off. After I put it back on, I reached to this piece of cardboard to wipe the grease off my fingers. Lo and behold, a nice 4ish foot Pacific gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer), was using it for its bedroom ceiling.


07/11/2010 @ 12:43:52 PM PDT
As usual, we got a rattlesnake impersonation act. They can be pretty convincing to the less-herp inclined.


07/11/2010 @ 1:03:14 PM PDT
A few miles further along in the ride, we came upon this California yellow-bellied racer (Coluber mormon). This was the first time I've caught one of these. Here it's sunning itself on the road.


07/11/2010 @ 1:04:13 PM PDT
And here it's posing as I hold its tail. Thanks to my riding buddy for being patient with the snake freak.