48. CROTALUS 943 
“Tn all our experience the rattlers of this region proved 
to be mild-mannered and always inoffensive, seeking to make 
their escape in every instance, and only striking when worried 
to the last degree. Neither myself nor my companions had 
any “narrow escapes” from being bitten that we were aware 
of. Many were noosed and a dozen were preserved as 
specimens. 
“The size of the rattlesnake of this region seems to 
average small, judging from reports from elsewhere in Cali- 
fornia. The following are a series of actual measurements 
taken by myself, length in inches from fresh (chloroformed) 
specimens: 19, 22, 24, 26, 27, 37, 3814, 40 and 42. The 
latter specimen was taken at Bluff lake, 7,500 feet altitude, 
July 22, 1905. A specimen taken on the upper Santa Ana 
July 6, 1907, and 37 inches long, was four inches in largest 
circumference, and weighed just one and one-fourth pounds. 
I saw one rattlesnake, not the largest either, with 13 rattles; 
all the others possessed from three to nine rattles, usually 
incomplete in number, that is, with the “button” and probably 
later acquired ones missing. In color there was considerable 
variation, though the majority were very dark, so black 
above as to show the merest traces of the lighter markings. 
Some also were heavily mottled on the under surface as well. 
The lightest specimens, with beautifully contrasted light 
and dark markings, were obtained at Doble (in the arid belt), 
though a dark one was also noted there. 
“The food of the rattlesnake may be judged from the fol- 
lowing instances. One caught on the south face of Sugar- 
loaf July 3, 1905, contained an entire chipmunk (Eutamias 
merriami), recently swallowed head first. Another from the 
same locality contained similarly a full-sized gopher (Tho- 
momys altivallis). A small-sized individual was found at 
the mouth of the South Fork, July 18, 1906, with its mouth 
efficiently gagged by a half-swallowed adult meadow mouse 
