PREFACE
This book is for snake lovers and snake lovers-to-be. Few animals capture our imaginations like snakes do, but their reputation is as forked as their tongues. For many people, snakes are scary, gross, and even considered bad omens. For others, like me, snakes represent grace, beauty, and resilience—they are just as fantastic as any beasts that Harry Potter encountered in the wizarding world. I may be just about as Slytherin as they come, but there will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this book: Learning about California snakes and how to find them requires practice, persistence, and luck. In this book, I coach you on what you need to develop snake-hunting skills and cheerlead you on being persistent enough to find the snakes you seek. But ultimately, we will have to leave luck up to the “herping gods . . . ,” which my students and I jokingly credit on our successful field trips (and blame for less successful trips).
My love affair with snakes began twenty-five years ago on a class field trip in college when my herpetology professor handed me a California Kingsnake he had found under a log. My vision went dark around the edges as I stared, mesmerized, at the shiny black and white coils of muscle writhing in my hands. From then on, it was a rare log, rock, or piece of tin I passed without looking underneath it. I was hooked. I now spend much of my time spreading the good word about California snakes in every way I can by teaching my own herpetology students, unlocking the secrets of snakes in my research at Cal Poly, promoting ways to live safely in areas with rattlesnakes, and sharing snake stories everywhere I go.
While my goal for you, reader, is to help you find, identify, and observe California snakes out in the field, notably, this book is not a true field guide in the sense that I do not provide detailed information like scale counts, nor do I show range maps. In some cases, I merge closely related species into a single species account. You can find detailed technical information about each snake species in various field guides and websites, including the wonderfully comprehensive and convenient website www.CaliforniaHerps.com, and I have the full list of scientific references I drew from archived at my website as well.
In addition to helping you learn how to find, observe, and identify the snakes around you, I want you, the budding snake enthusiast, to learn how to interact with wildlife in a responsible manner. Snakes have been unfairly portrayed in the media and persecuted mercilessly for ages. Even people who love snakes can sometimes harm them by destroying their habitat in an effort to catch them or by handling them roughly in pursuit of the perfect photograph. In this book, you will not just learn how to find snakes in the wild, but how to leave no trace behind in your search for these majestic beasts. Rattlesnakes should always be left alone, and standing back and watching even harmless snakes is the key to seeing once-in-a-lifetime behaviors like snakes catching prey or fighting with one another over a mate. That said, part of the joy of herping is approaching snakes with knowledge and caution in order to hold these striking creatures in your hands and observe them up close. As herpetologist Sam Sweet wrote, “Field herpetology cannot be (and should not be) reduced to birdwatching.”
Snakes native to California have coexisted with California’s Indigenous people for millennia. Rattlesnakes in particular have been significant animals in the daily lives of people in California, both now and in the deep past. Anthropologists have recorded diverse practices and beliefs among Indigenous groups with respect to rattlesnakes; for example, the use of rattlesnake fat to treat “consumption” (possibly tuberculosis) by the Northern Californian Pomo people, and the belief among the Shoshone, Luiseño, and Diegueño that rattlesnake bites are punishments for dereliction of religious duty. I acknowledge and pay homage to the fact that I write this book from the homeland of the Indigenous Te'po'ta'ahl, or "People of the Oaks," named by missionaries as the Antoniano division of the Salinan tribe, a group that is currently seeking official recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
California is famous for many reasons, but chief among these is its diversity. Diversity of cultures, of people, of wildlife, of climates, of crops, of wines . . . you name it. Californian snakes are no different. We have boas, we have vipers, we have blindsnakes, we have a legion of snakes from a large and diverse family called the Colubridae, and in recent years we even have had a few wayward sea snakes find their way to our shores. Fellow snake admirer, I am excited to be your guide on this journey into the wonderful world of Californian snakes.
