33. PITUOPHIS 711 
placed by P. catenifer heermanni in the north and P. cateni- 
fer deserticola in the south. Still farther south, it probably 
intergrades with P. catenifer annectens in Santa Barbara or 
Ventura County. It has been taken in Siskiyou (Fort Jones, 
Callahan, Mt. Shasta), Humboldt (Garberville), Trinity 
(Yolla Bolly Mountain), Mendocino (ten miles south from 
Willits), Lake (Middletown, Kelseyville, Lower Lake), 
Sonoma (Petaluma, Duncan Mills, Guerneville, Monte 
Rio), Napa (Napa), Solano (Buddha Canyon), Marin (In- 
verness, Point Reyes Station, Mailliard, Mt. Tamalpais, 
Lagunitas, Manzanita, San Anselmo), Contra Costa (Wal- 
nut Creek, Antioch, Contra Costa, San Pablo Valley, Mt. 
Diablo, Moraga Valley), Alameda (Berkeley, Oakland, 
Haywards), San Francisco, San Mateo (Millbrae), Santa 
Clara (Palo Alto, Stanford University, Sunnyvale, San 
Jose, Los Gatos, Alma, Coyote, Coyote Creek), Santa Cruz 
(Glenwood, Corralitos, Soquel), San Benito (San Juan), 
Monterey, Carmel, Bradley, Soledad, Coburn, Welby, 
Metz), San Luis Obispo (San Miguel, Pismo, Edna, Indian 
Creek, San Juan River, Source of the Salinas River), and 
Santa Barbara (Santa Cruz Island) counties. 
Habits—The Gopher or Bull Snake is the largest as 
well as one of the most abundant of Californian serpents. 
Individuals more than six feet long are rarely found. These 
are usually very gentle and show little resentment even 
when roughly handled. The younger snakes, however, some- 
times strike fiercely, but of course harmlessly. This snake 
shares with many others the curious habit of rapidly vibrat- 
ing the tip of its tail when excited; an action which some- 
times, when the tail happens to strike upon dry leaves or 
grass, produces a sound not unlike the warning whir of the 
rattlesnake. Its food, so far as is known, consists of small 
mammals, of which gophers are said to form a large part. 
