More Red-Spots...another three-snake board, a big female, a smaller snake, a male perhaps, and a juvenile. I snapped a quick shot of the two smaller serpents, and then turned my camera towards the female, a big beauty with a pale orange head.

I flipped another piece of tin and found a new snake - a Pacific Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer catenifer.  The snake was less than a yard in length, with a stub for a tail, and rather beat up. I didn't care - this was the first western Gopher Snake I had seen in forty years, since I was a boy growing up near LA. The stub ended just a half inch past the vent, effectively neutering the animal if it was a male.

We turned up a couple more concinnus but Casey was running out of time and needed to head out. We had a great morning in the field and I appreciated him taking me to one of his cool herping spots and helping me make the most of my limited herping time. I'll return the favor some day if I can.

I had a little time left to putter around; I walked down to a fishing lake to look for Western Pond Turtles. No luck with the turtles but I did scare up a couple more Red-Spots. I decided to head over to a nearby state park and see if I could turn up some salamanders on the forested hillsides. The ground was fairly dry, but on one of the short nature trails I found a small Oregon Ensatina under some bark slabs. I took the little critter's picture, and putting it back I spotted Mama Ensatina.  I detained her long enough to snap a few photos - this salamander certainly looked different from the ambystomids and plethodontids back home. The body, head and tail proportions seemed odd to me.

Now it was time for me to head back to my hotel. It was an incredible day, a field herping experience I will not forget.