• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Santa Cruz Island, CA

R

Road-kill

New member
Joined
Feb 7, 2005
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
wHITTIER
California has been experiencing some superb weather the last few days, so I decided to take a trip to Santa Cruz Island. I was fortunate to find all, but one of my target species. I was unable to locate the endemic Santa Cruz Island Gopher Snake. Biologists on the on island informed me that there is another snake inhabiting the island, the Racer (Coluber constrictor). Although several biologists mentioned this to me, the only documented species is from 1950’s at Prisoners Harbor. Question; anyone have information to support the Racer existing on the Island? According to Stebbins 2003, it appears from his range map that the Western Rattlesnake frequents the island, but biologists I spoke with strongly oppose the idea of Crotalus on the island. Additionally, Stebbins (2003) questions whether Night Snake exist on the island, but island biologists could not confirm, nor reject this theory. As for my research on the island, I came across the following six species:

<img src='http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/herpetology/images/7-picture3.jpg?'>
View of Santa Cruz Island from vicinity of Del Norte Camp (Santa Barbara Co.)

<img src='http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0305/0190.jpeg'>
Channel Islands Slender Salamander

<img src='http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0305/0191.jpeg'>
Black-bellied Slender Salamander

<img src='http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0305/0195.jpeg'>
Common Side-blotched Lizard

<img src='http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0305/0194.jpeg'>
Island Fence Lizard

<img src='http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0305/0192.jpeg'>
California Alligator Lizard from Del Norte Camp

<img src='http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/herpetology/images/7-picture2.gif?'>
This pond and others along Del Norte Trail were full of tadpoles and scattered calling Pacific Treefrogs.

<img src='http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0305/0193.jpeg'>
Finally, another Alligator Lizard from Prisoners Harbor
 
Snakes on Santa Cruz Island

Check out THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA, by Allan Schoenherr et al. (1999). UC Press. In that book, the authors list P. catenifer, Coluber constrictor, and Hypsiglena torquata as native, although the latter might be extirpated. They consider Coluber as "rare" in grasslands. They do not consider Crotalus oreganus as being there-
Good luck-
Eric
 
Channel Islands Book

Interesting you mention Dr. Schoenherr, because he was my ecology Professor when attending Fullerton College. Dr. Schoenherr would mention his developing book about the Channel Islands often, but it was near the time I was moving forward from that school so I didn’t hear about it in detail. Unfortunately, I was unable to discuss the herpetology of the islands. Thanks for the information I will be getting a copy of his island book soon.

Thanks,
Will
 
Great photos too! Thanks for posting.

I'd like to get out to the islands someday, but it will have to wait, unfortunately-

Eric
 
Great pictures

Santa Cruz Island is beautiful. It is just right off the shore from me. I do believe that it is important to note since this is in field collecting that it is illegal to collect on the island. Unless something has changed that I am unaware of.

Great pictures.
 
Back
Top