Rare Striped Gopher Snake at Skyline Park

Yesterday, I had another nice Skyline Park hike through the furthest reaches of the park. The sky was remarkably blue due to the strong northwest winds of late, and just when I think the last wildflowers have gone, I see something new. A real treat, though, was finding a Pacific Gopher Snake that was a rare color morph. Instead of dark saddles on its back, it had stripes running the length of its body.

California Indian Pink

Gold Nuggets

Ground Brodiaea

The view up the eastern hills of Napa Valley from where I ate lunch on the top of Sugar Loaf

Looking north, straight up the Napa Valley

Looking west, down on the city of Napa

This is the Gopher Snake (center of picture) heading into the bushes as I approached it.

Here, I am holding the snake with my left hand and taking a picture with my right hand - not an easy thing to do with an irritated wild snake while crouched in the bushes. You can see the striping and lack of dark saddles or blotches on its back. I have seen a lot of Gopher Snakes in my time, but never saw one like this in the wild - only in books. Well, the hills are like a box of chocolates! See you next time.