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 (Millbrx), Santa 

 Clara (Palo Alto, Stanford University, Sunnyvale, San 

 Jose, Los Gatos, Alma, Coyote, Coyote Creek), Santa Cruz 

 (Glenwood, Corralitos, Sequel), 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 j 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. 



