WANTED: Field collector in SoCal!

I found one exactly like what you are looking for near lake Henshaw two years ago. That is a long way from the coast, but in my experience here all of the kings are brown and yellow until you actually get into the desert, then they are black and white. The striped ones are rare in the wild - I have only found one compared to dozens of normal banded cal kings. I later released the one I caught - a large female. Good luck.

Kevin

Keven, you might be looking in the wrong areas or having some very bad luck because striped kings are very common in a lot of areas in San Diego Co. Some populations can be as high as 80 percent according to Brian Hubbs book on common kingsnakes. I also know a few guys that herp from Carlsbad to Borrego desert and they find stripers everywhere but they are rare in the desert. They are way common in Carlsbad. I don't mean to correct you or anything, I just wanted to let you know. Also, habitat can also be a factor when looking for striped kings.

I don't do much looking in San Diego County, mostly orange and Riverside. Interesting that the stripers are so common in SD. They are not so common in Orange and RVSDE, at least in my experience.

Kevin

OK you are right, they are less common in those two counties. The striped kings you are probably seeing in OC are Newporters. They have a stripe down their back with aberrant markings on the side and have virtually no speckling on the sides like the SD stripers. They are a lot less common than the normal striped kings and have no markings on the top of the tail. Newports are my favorite.

So I am going to be in San Diego for a week, from August 9th - 14th. I plan on taking at least one day to go herping myself to see if I can possibly find what I am looking for. Any suggestions on good hunting spots? What type of habitat should I look for?

Its going to be tough to find any kingsnakes this time of year. Its too dry to find them under cover, so you gonna have to drive in the evening and night on some roads that are not too heavily traveled. Your best bet is to look for grassy areas or even open hills where a road goes through. I would stay on the east side of the 15 freeway near Escondido or just south of there. To find some nice roads, just google bing maps and zoom in on that area, then hit birds eye view and it will show you ariel shots of the area. Good luck.

So I ended up not being able to go -- our veterinary math competencies got scheduled the same week. Any herpers out there up for the challenge? Still looking for these guys.

Jennifer, you may want to contact my local reptile society, lots of field herpers. I know one guy that works with kings but he can't sell babies (no pet store permit or something, I am still not clear on the legalities as I don't work with local species).. anyways, you may be able to find someone that has CB babies from this group?
http://www.cvherps.org/

Thanks April! Awesome idea. My dad went out to SD with my grandpa and my brother, and my Dad said he saw a couple banded coastals but not at moments where he could really stop to get them and wasn't sure on exactly what the state laws were. So frustrating! Just wish I had my original pair back.

Per that group's forum, here's the page on California state herping/collection regulations/limits:

http://www.cvherpforums.org/californ...laws-t240.html