Snakes of Napa County

One thing I have learned over the years is that you never find snakes when you are looking for them, at least in Napa County. However, if you leave your camera in your pack instead of around your neck, your odds of a sighting improve greatly.

That being said, I have managed to get a few good shots of local reptiles in action over the past several years. Here are a few:

This is a western yellow belly racer that raced up a hill and took refuge about six feet up this manzanita bush. The location was about 45 minutes up Oat Hill Mine Trail on May 15, 2005.

This is a striped racer that zipped about seven feet up a fir tree. The location was about 50 yards from the above yellow belly racer on June 7, 2005.

The above two photos are of a large terrestrial garter snake that appeared to be gravid (pregnant) as well as having a tough time swallowing a rodent (notice the tail and hind foot extending from its mouth). I sat next to it, a few feet away, and ate my lunch. It never moved the whole time or swallowed more of the rodent. It was breathing, however. The location was Skyline Park, on the furthest loop of new trail, on June 26, 2006.

This is a male western fence lizard on the rock. Below the rock on the right is a female. The male was doing his territorial dominance display of rapid push-ups. Date and location were the same as the above garter snake.

Also on the same day at Skyline I found this juvenile garter snake.

This is a ringneck snake found on June 5, 2005. These are very common under rocks and logs at Skyline, but are seldom seen in the open.

This concludes my first post. In the future I will post photos and anecdotes of other wildlife, flora, and land features.