48. CROTALUS 



"In all our experience the rattlers of this region proved 

 to be mild-mannered and always inoflFensive, 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, 38><, 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 j 

 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 



