CHAPTER XIII 



WILD LIFE 



Found in and about the Grounds of Diablo Park 

 Residents and Visitants 



In a previous chapter I gave considerable 

 space to detailing observations made while 

 tramping through Diablo Canyon. It is now 

 my purpose to relate some matters of interest 

 noted while rambling over the club grounds 

 and golf course in the park, or valley, below. 



Diablo Canyon is the great gash in the 

 southwestern side of Mt. Diablo. Therein 

 gather the waters forming the creek that 

 once flowed down through the park grounds 

 at the foot of the mountain. I said "once" 

 for now and a number of years past the 

 waters flow only in the creek bed of the can- 

 yon proper, as a dam was built across the 

 canyon near the place of its opening into the 

 valley, or park. The waters thus impounded 

 form a pretty little lake, making a very at- 

 tractive spot for lovers of water sports. Gamey 

 black bass inhabit its depths and families of 

 the long-legged great blue heron are annually 

 produced in the neighboring tree tops. 



In the course of time long before man lo- 

 cated here and piled up the big bank of 

 earth and clay across the canyon to stay 

 further flow of the stream, the waters had 

 cut a deep meandering channel for a mile and 

 a half or so through the alluvial land of the 

 park valley. The banks of this channel, or 

 creek-bed, are thickly lined with growths of 

 oaks, willows, alders, etc., most of which are 

 of extraordinary size. This is especially true 

 of the first two mentioned. In fact the sup- 

 posedly largest live oak tree in the state is 

 growing on the banks of this creek. It meas- 

 ures 24 feet in circumference, is 80 feet high 

 and has a spread of 125 feet. The trees and 

 wild shrubbery bordering the stream bed 

 constitute a feature greatly contributing to 

 the natural beauty of the park and grounds of 

 the Mt. Diablo Country Club. 



The most active agents in undoing the work 

 of the green-keepers in keeping the greens 

 and fairway of the golf course smooth, clean 

 and free of obstructions are the colony of 

 gophers that infest the grounds. In one 

 section of the fairway, between number one 

 and two greens, nearly 3000 of the rodents 

 had been shot, trapped and in other ways 

 killed in a little more than two years' time, 

 when the green-keeper tired of recording the 

 captures, so we know not how many have 

 been slain since. However, he says the rate 

 of his slaughter has not been reduced, and 

 to all appearances the gophers are as num- 

 erous as ever. A peculiar feature of their 

 activities is that twice a day, about nine 

 of ten o'clock in the morning and three or 

 four in the afternoon, the gophers come out 



of their holes for some reason I am unable 

 to explain. Notwithstanding they pass the 

 greatert part of their lives underground 

 keenness of eyesight with them does not seem 

 impaired thereby, for when on the surface of 

 the ground they are quick to detect the pres- 

 ence of danger and the man with the shotgun 

 has to be quick in using it if he is to be suc- 

 cessful in shooting them. 



The gophers have other enemies, among 

 which are snakes. For some weeks in the 

 summer of 1919 a large gopher snake made 

 its headquarters in a section of the golf course 

 that was thickly infested with the rodents. 

 No one ever saw the snake actually catch a 

 gopher, but there were club members who 

 were sure it lived on gopher diet, and inter- 

 fered with the intentions of snake haters who 

 would have killed it Just because it was a 

 snake. I saw the reptile once stretched out 

 snake fashion by a freshly made gopher hole 

 with its head raised about four inches over 

 the hole. As the time of day was about eleven 

 o'clock in the morning I concluded it was pos- 

 sible that the snake was acquainted with the 

 hour-habits of the gopher in coming out its 

 hole, and the snake remaining motionless in 

 the position described for the several mo- 

 ments I watched it, was a circumstance that 

 seemed to me to justify the thought that it 

 was waiting for the appearance of a gopher. 



Not long since one of the club officials was 

 working in his front yard when he discovered 

 a large gopher coming across the road 

 toward him. Thinking to frighten the animal 

 so it would possibly leave the vicinity of his 

 lawn and garden he rushed at it. Greatly to 

 his astonishment the gopher did not turn tail 

 and flee, but stood its ground and bared its 

 hideous chisel teeth. When the man got near 

 enough to kick the beast, he was fairly 

 startled, for before he could use his foot it 

 took the initiative in making attack and in a 

 mos^ vicious manner jumped at him. Then 

 the man and gopher "mixed it," the former 

 kicking but missing- the mark and the latter 

 as frequently jumping and failing to score. 

 Thus they battled for what seemed minutes, 

 until the superiority of the man was finally 

 demonstrated, the gopher failing to recover 

 or revive after receiving a blow from the toe 

 of a heavy shoe that sent it flying several 

 feet through the air. 



I have seen a number of gophers in the 

 course of my outdoor life out on the surface of 

 the ground but never very far from their 

 holes, into which they always made quick 

 retreat at the slightest indication of danger. 



