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97858

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

DIVISION OF FISH AND GAME

San Francisco, California

CULBERT L. OLSON GOVERNOR

RICHARD SACHSE DIRECTOR OP NATURAL RESOURCES

FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

NATE MILNOR, President Los Angeles

GERMAIN BULCKE, Commissioner San Francisco

EDWIN L. CARTY, Commissioner Oxnard

W. B. WILLIAMS, Commissioner Alturas

LEE F. PAYNE, Commissioner Los Angeles

GEORGE P. MILLER, Executive Secretary San Francisco

BUREAU OF FISH CONSERVATION

A. C. TAFT, Chief San Francisco

A. E. Burghduff, Supervisor of Fish Hatcheries San Francisco

Brian Curtis, Supervising Fisheries Biologist San Francisco

L. Phillips, Hatchery Inspector San Francisco

Earl Leitritz, Superintendent Mt. Shasta Hatchery Mt. Shasta

Geo. McCloud, Superintendent Mt. Whitney Hatchery Independence

D. A. Clanton, Superintendent Forest Home Hatchery Forest Home

J. C. Lewis, Superintendent Tahoe Hatchery Tahoe

Ed Clessen, Foreman Fort Seward Hatchery Alderpoint

William Berrian, Foreman Fall Creek Hatchery Copco

Archie Thompson, Foreman Yosemite Hatchery Tosemite

John Marshall, Foreman Feather River Hatchery Clio

R. A. McCloud, Foreman Kaweah Hatchery Three Rivers

Donald Evins, Foreman Lake Almanor Hatchery Westwood

H. E. Cole, Foreman Basin Creek Hatchery Tuolumne

Peter Topp, Foreman Burney Creek Hatchery Burney

C. L. Frame, Foreman Kings River Hatchery Fresno

Harold Hewitt, Foreman Prairie Creek Hatchery Orick

J. L Stinnett, Foreman Brookdale Hatchery Brookdale

G. C. Tabler, Fish Hatchery Man, Yuba River Hatchery Camptonville

Clarence Chansler, Fish Hatchery Man, Madera Hatchery Madera

R. C. Lewis, Foreman Hot Creek Hatchery Bishop

A. N. Culver, Fish Hatchery Man, Kern Hatchery Kernville

Allan Pollitt, Foreman Special Duty San Francisco

Joseph Wales, Biological Surveyor Mt. Shasta

Leo Shapovalov, Senior Fisheries Biologist Stanford University

William Dill, Senior Fisheries Biologist Fresno

Elden H. Vestal, Junior Fisheries Biologist June Lake

E. R. Varnum, Fish Hatchery Construction Estimator San Francisco

BUREAU OF GAME CONSERVATION

J. S. HUNTER, Chief San Francisco

Gordon H. True, Jr., In charge, Pittman-Robertson Project San Francisco

Donald D. McLean, Economic Biologist San Francisco

Frank Richardson, Junior Economic Biologist Chino

Roy M. Wattenbarger, Supervisor Los Banos Refuge Los Banos

L. H. Cloyd, Supervisor Gray Lodge Refuge Gridley

Russell M. Reedy, Supervisor Imperial Refuge Calipatria

Ralph R. Noble, Supervisor Suisun Refuge Joice Island

Joe Vlasnik, Jr., Supervisor Elk Refuge Tupman

John R. Wallace, In Charge, Predatory Animal Control San Francisco

Asa L. Brown, Supervising Trapper Standish

John L. McDonald, Supervising Trapper Weaverville

O. R, Shaw, Supervising Trapper .Springville

BUREAU OF GAME FARMS

AUGUST BADE, Chief YountvlUe

E. D. Piatt, Superintendent Los Serranos Game Farm Chino

C. Van Ornum, Superintendent Yountville Game Farm Yountville

BUREAU OF MARINE FISHERIES

RICHARD VAN CLEVE, Chief San Francisco

S. H. Dado, Assistant Chief San Francisco

H. B. Nidever, Field Inspector San Francisco

CALIFORNIA STATE FISHERIES LABORATORY

W. L. Scofield, Supervising Fisheries Researcher Terminal Island

G. H. Clark, Supervising Fisheries Researcher San Francisco

Frances N. Clark, Senior Fisheries Researcher Terminal Island

Harry C. Godsil, Senior Fisheries Researcher San Diego

Donald H. Fry, Jr., Senior Fisheries Researcher Terminal Island

Richard S. Croker, Senior Fisheries Researcher Terminal Island

J. B. Phillips, Senior Fisheries Researcher Pacific Grove

Paul Bonnot, Senior Fisheries Researcher Stanford University

S. Ross Hatton, Senior Fisheries Researcher Stanford University

John F. Janssen, Jr., Senior Fisheries Researcher Terminal Island

Geraldine Conner, Fisheries Statistician Terminal Island

California Fish and Game

"CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE THROUGH EDUCATION"

Volume 27 SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL, 1941 Number 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

The Feeding Habits of California Garter Snakes— Henry S. Fitch 2

Valley Quail Census Methods and Populations at the San Joaquin

Experimental Range Ben Glading 33

"N. B. Scofield": Progress Report for 1940 H. C. Godsil 39

First Record of the Hybrid Flounder, Inopsetta ischyra, from Cali-
fornia Earl Stannard Herald 44

Editorials and Notes

Twenty-five Years Ago in "California Fish and Game"

Richard S. Croker 47

Results of the 1940 Pismo Clam Census Phil M. Boedel 48

Black Brant in Lower California, February, 1941

Phil M. Roedel 49

Reviews

California's Natural Wealth : A Conservation Guide for Second-
ary Schools Richard S. Croker 50

Fishing the Surf Richard S. Croker 51

California Fish and Game is a publication devoted to the conservation of wild-
life. It is published quarterly by the California Division of Fish and Game. All
material for publication should be sent to Richard S. Croker. editor, California
Division of Fish and Game, Terminal Island, California.

The articles published herein are not copyrighted and may be reproduced in
other periodicals, provided due credit is given the California Division of Fish and
Game. Editors of newspapers and periodicals are invited to make use of pertinent
material.

9785S

THE FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA
GARTER SNAKES '

By Henry S. Fitch

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
O'Neals, California

INTRODUCTION

The garter snakes are among the most abundant and generally
distributed of any California snakes, and hence are of considerable
economic importance. Like any other common and widely distributed
animal species, they necessarily have diverse ecologic interrelationships
which cause them to affect man's varying interests both adversely and
favorably. The several kinds differ from each other, greatly in some
instances, in their feeding habits, so that each must be appraised
separately in any study of economic status. The feeding habits have
most direct bearing on man's interest. The present report is con-
cerned with the feeding habits of the kinds of garter snakes which
occur in California, except that one species, Thamnophis marciamis, is
not included. No data concerning its feeding habits are available, and
it is unimportant because of the limited area it inhabits within the
State. Its California distribution originally was restricted to the
Colorado River, but recently it has spread westward along irrigation
canals into Imperial Valley. (Klauber, 1939, p. 22.)

Garter snakes are predatory in their habits and take small animals
of many kinds. The prey includes only such animals as can be caught,
overpowered, and swallowed whole. Most often the prey is swallowed
alive ; rarely it may be killed by constriction, as observed by the writer
in the case of a mouse attacked by a captive individual. Garter snakes
rely upon the sense of smell as well as upon sight to find their prey,
and will usually eat any freshly killed animals of the kinds which
comprise their natural foods. It is not known how much an individual
snake normally eats under natural conditions. They are able to fast
for periods of weeks or even months, but probably feed at intervals of
a few days, or even oftener during warm weather when food is abun-
dant. The food requirement varies according to temperature; in cold
weather metabolism is slowed down so that but little food is required.
During the three to six months of hibernation these snakes take no
food.

Garter snakes are of especial interest as destroyers of fish. They
occasionally attain great abundance along trout streams, and instances
of garter snake predation on trout are known to many anglers. From
the following account it Avill be evident that only certain kinds, which

1 Submitted for publication, July, 1940. Published by permission of the U. S.
Pish and Wildlife Service.

(2)

FEEDING IIAMITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 6

are easily recoo:nizable, prey 111)011 trout or other game fishes. Other
kinds, just as abundant and widely distributed, seldom or never eat
fish, but feed in whole or in i»;irt on animals whieli nvo jronerally con-
sidered harmful. In California the garter snakes are the only snakes
which tend to be aciuatic in habits, and the group includes all of the
kinds popularly known as "water snakes" within the boundaries of
this State.

The data herein presented are much too fragmentary to furnish a
complete picture of the feeding habits of garter snakes in California.
For some kinds only a few feeding records are available and these
may not be typical. Probably an even greater variety of food is
utilized than is indicated by the records here compiled. Nevertheless,
these records extend throughout most of the ranges, being well scat-
tered over a very large area and representing all seasons during which
the snakes are active. They may, therefore, be expected to yield a
fairly reliable idea of the kinds of food in general used by those kinds
of California garter snakes which are common and widely distributed.

Acknowledgments

This study of the food habits w^as carried on in the field and at
the University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and the
writer is indebted to the late Dr. Joseph Grinnell, Director of the
Museum, for help in many ways. The writer is, likewise, indebted to
members of the Museum staff and to many of the graduate students in
the Museum for cooperation and assistance in the pursuit of this study.
Dr. Jean M. Linsdale and Mr. Thomas L. Rodgers are due especial
thanks. Specimens used were borrowed from the California Academy
of Sciences, the University of IMichigan Museum of Zoology and the
San Diego Society of Natural History. For use of these collections
the writer wishes to thank Mr. Joseph R. Slevin, Dr. Helen T. Gaige
and yiv. Laurence M. Klauber.

CLASSIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION

The garter snakes are members of the family Colubridae, which
includes the majority of nonpoisonous snakes, and of the cosmopolitan
subfamily Natricinae, or water snake group, characterized by aquatic
tendencies, keeled (ridged) scales, enlarged anal glands which produce
a characteristically foul-smelling secretion (often serving to repel
attacking predators) and simple, unbranched hemipenes (the paired
copulatory organs of the males), which are set with rows of spines.

The genus Thamnophis, the garter snake group, is entirely North
American and Central American in its range, occurring northward
farther than any other reptiles in this hemisphere. All the garter
snakes are, of course, nonpoisonous. Members of the genus in general
tend to be aquatic in their habits. Most of them have a light dorsal
stripe and two lateral stripes on a darker ground color. They differ
from closely related water snakes (genus Natrix) in having the anal
plate (the enlarged ventral scale just anterior to the anus) undivided.
There are five major groups of garter snakes, each comprising a series
of closely related species and subspecies. Only two of these major
groups are represented in California; Thamnophis sirtalis, represent-

2 — 97858

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

Fig. 22. Important structural features of a garter snake as seen from dorsal, ventral
and lateral views of head, and ventral view at posterior end of body. A —
anal plate ; D — dorsal stripe ; DA — dorsolateral area ; F — anterior genial ; G —
gastrosteges, numbered to show method of counting ; H — posterior genial ; I —
infralaljials, numliered to show method of countin,g ; L — lateral stripe ; S —
supralabials, numliered to show method of counting; SIl — scale rows, numbered
to show method of counting diagonally across body; U — urostege.

FEEDING IIARITS OF CAT.IFORNTA GARTER SNAKES 5

\ng one group in California, occurs also throughout most of the United
States. The ThaDiiiopJiis nrdinoidcs group is confined to the region
west of the (ireat I'laius, and attains its greatest abundance and diversi-
ficalion within tlie California Fanna. The Californian lorius
ordinoidcs, hiscutatus, atraius, hydrophda, conchii, gigas, haniniondii,
elcgans, and vugnDtfi are all members of this group.

Key to the Garter Snakes of California

In the following key attempt has been made to furnish brief
diagnoses which will serve to identify specimens. If carefully used,
this key should eiud)le one to identify most specimens, but every one of
the characters used in it is subject to both individual and geographic
variation. Hence, a nontypical individual of one form may be run
down to another form in the key. In the accounts of species and sub-
species, a detailed statement of the geographic range of each form is
given. The statement of range should be consulted to check ideutifica-
1 ion of specimens run down in the key.

1. Lateral stripe on anterior part of body confined to third scale row

Marcy's Garter Snake (Thamnophis marcidnu.t)

v. Lateral stripe on second and third scale rows 2

2. Seven pairs of suprnlnliial (or npper lip) scales 3

2'. Eight pairs of supralal)ial scales 5

3. Gastrosteges (large ventral scales of body) more than 153; posterior
gonials (chin scales) markedly longer than those of anterior pair; bright

rod markings but no pale flecks on dorsolateral area

Common Garter Snake {Thamnophis slrtalis)

3'. Gastrosteges fewer than 153 ; dorsal stripe red or yellow ; pale yellowish
flecks on skin between scales (see Fig. 23B) in area between dorsal and
lateral stripes 4

4. Dorsal stripe bright yellow

Coast Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides atratus)

4'. Dorsal stripe red

Red-striped Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides ordinoides)

5. Dorsal stripe bright yellow 6

5'. Dorsal stripe al)sent. faint, or discontinuous 8

6. Preocular (the scale in front of the eye) often divided on one or both
sides ; scale rows 21, 22 or 23, when counted across body at a point one-
third of distance from head back to anus

Klamath Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides hiscufatiis)

6'. Preocular not divided on eithm- side ; scale rows 1!), 20 or 21 when counted

across body at a point one-third of distance from head back to anus 7

7. Hed markings often pi-esent on sides or on ventral sui-faee ; lateral sti-ipe

sometimes red; iris often uniformly colored, clear gray; head narrower

Coast Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides airatus)

T. No red in coloration ; iris dark brown with narrow yellow margin around

pupil ; head wide and swollen

Mountain Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides elegans)

8. Doi-sal stripe absent

Southern California (barter Snake {Thamnophis hammondii)

8'. Dorsal stripe present but often faint and confined to anterior part of body 9

9. Scale rows 23 or 22 when counted across body at a point one-third of dis-
tance from head back to anus; size often very large (over three feet)

Giant Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides glgas)

W. Scale rows 21, 20 or 19 when counted across body at a point one-third of
distance from head back to anus; size smaller (seldom as much as three

feet) 10

10. Dorsal stripe distinct for full length of body, faint, irregular, invaded by
small rounded black spots ; ground color pale brown ; iris dark brown with

naiTOW yellow rim around pupil

Wandering Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides vagrans)

6 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

10'. Dorsal stripe faint, usually oonfined to anterior part of Ixxly ; dorsal stripe
and dursal surface cluM-kered with larjie s(iuarish markings alternating with
paler areas; iris uniformly hmwu or gray 11

11. .Scale rows 21 both in neck rcgicu and across middle of body; dorsal stripe

often confinefl to neck region

Moccasin Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordiiioides couchli)

11'. Scale rows only 19, either across neck region or middle of body or both ;

dorsal stripe discernible, at least on anierior half of Ixxly

Oregon (Jray Garter Snake ( 'I'lKiiniiophis ordiitoides hydrophila)

ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES

In the following- acconnts, a diagnosis is given for each form con-
sidered Avhicli will serve to distinguish it from all other kinds and a
detailed statement of geographic range is made. Under the heading
"habits" for each kind the general habitat preferences and manner of
foraging are described, and, by way of illustration, specific instances
are cited from published accounts, and from the field notes of the writer
and other observers. Feeding records were obtained from an examina-
tion of a few more than 3500 snakes ; 462 of these contained food, an
aggregate of 945 items. Llost of the snake.s were museum specimens,
and in many instances they may have been kept alive long enough after
capture to digest any food in their stomaelis. Small food items may
have been overlooked in some instances. The digestive tracts could
not be examined with thoroughness because it was necessary to avoid
mutilating the museum specimens used. Usually food items could be
readily detected by the bulges which they caused in the snakes' con-
tours, or they could be felt by manipulating the ventral surface of a
specimen. To examine, or, if necessary, remove food items, small
incisions were made through the body walls and stomachs of the snakes.
In snakes, feeding is infrequent, as compared with that of most other
kinds of animals, and those which have eaten recently tend to stay in
hiding, whereas those with empty stomachs are more apt to be out
foraging where they will be found by the collector. In many the
stomach contents were so well digested that accurate identifications
could not be made.

All available feeding records are summarized in a table at the end
of this paper. For most of the forms records are based on specimens
taken in California or in the immediately adjacent poi-tions of Oregon,
Nevada, and Lower California, but for the common garter snake and
the red-striped garter snake some records from northern Oregon, Wa.sh-
iii"ton, and British Columbia are also included, and for the wandering
garter snake the records are mostly from outside of California, over its
extensive range in the Great Basin and Rocky ^Mountain regions.

Common Garter Snake {Thamnophis sirtalis subsp.)

Diagnostic Characters

Size large in adults (up to 4 feet) ; dorsal stripe bright yellow,
1 2/2 scale rows in width, its edges straight, and sharply defined;
dorsal ground color jet black, or occasionally dark gray; top of head
black, dark olive or red ; l)ody marked Avith two series of transverse
irregular red marks, mainly confined to skin between scales; lateral
stripe dull yellow, situated on second and third scale rows; first scale

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES

A. The moccasin
garter snake. This
(lark-colored snake
is common along
many streams of
the Sierra Nevada.
It feeds upon fish,
tadpoles and other
aquatic prey.

H. Tlic mountain
-arter snake. This
lirightly striped
snake resembles in
pattern the coast
garter snake and
tlie common garter
snake, and like them
it finds most of its
food out of the wa-
ter, cither in dam|)
streamside situa-
tions or occasionally
in dry places.

('. The wandering
garter snake is char-
acteristic of the
Creat Basin region
but extends west-
ward into Califor-
nia. It is general-
ized in feeding hah-
its and takes as prey
ho til aciuatic and
lerrestrial kinds of
animals.

I). The Oregon gray
garter snake replaces
tlie closely related
moccasin garter
snake in northwest-
ern California. It
differs from tlie moc-
casin garter snake
in iialer coloration
and more distinct
dorsal stripe hut re-
semliles it in aquat-
ic hahits. It feeds
upon trout and other
fish and upon tad-
poles.

Fig. 23

8 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

row dull, slig-litly darker than lateral stripe, or dusky or even jet black ;
ventral surface yellowish gray, not marked with black, rarely reddish
on under side of tail (in individuals which are exten.sively marked
with red dorsally) ; supralabials in seven pairs, infralabials in 10 pairs;
scales in 19 lonp'itudinal rows (thi.s count obtainable anywhere on
anterior two-tliirds of body).

Distribution

Vicinity of permanent fresh water throuo'hout most of the State,
but absent from desert regions of southeastern California, and reaches
southern limit in extreme northwestern San Diego County. Appar-
ently occurs east of the Sierra divide only as far south as the Carson
River drainage, and is absent from many small, isolated drainage
systems of the arid region east of the Sierra Nevada.

Geographic Variation

_ As indicated in the diagnosis, the characters of this species are
variable. Variation is both individual and geographic in its nature,
but tlie geographic variation is the more striking. Series of individuals
collected at a given locality are often fairly uniform in appearance but
may differ markedly from series collected elsewhere at remote localities.
At least two subspecies are represented by the California populations
of sirtaJis, but it is difficult to delimit their respective ranges because
intergradation between them is gradual, extending over a large area.
Thus most specimens are in a sense intergrades, intermediate between
typical individuals of the different races. Variation occurs mainly in
nund)ers of ventral scales on the body and tail and in the shade of
the dorsal ground color, but the trends of variation in these characters
are not entirely parallel. The numbers of ventral scales are smallest
in snakes from the northern part of the State, and there is progressive
increase in snakes taken farther south. In the coastal region these
snakes have paler ground colors, gray rather than black, with red or
reddish-gray heads. Series from tlie San Joaquin Valley and the
Sierra Nevada are of darker color but often have brown rather than
black heads. Those from the northeastei-n part of the State have the
top of the head and the dorsolateral ground color ,jet black.

The differences between the supposed subspecies of sirtalis are
minor ones as compared with those separating the members of the
ordwoides complex. There is no evidence that these geographic differ-
ences in color and scale numbers are paralleled by geographic dif-
ferences in habits. Everywhere in California \hnt' sirtalis occurs its
habits are much the same, unlike ordrnoides, whose geographic popula-
tions have diverged in habits in adaptation to their various environ-
ments.

Habits

The common garter snake is generalized in its feeding habits and
apt to prey upon any small vertebrates which it can find and over-
poAver. Individually these snakes are aggressive and voracious. In
habitat preference the species is primarily a swamp snake, and is most
abundant on low wet ground where there is dense vegetation. Along
the margins of sloughs, along slow-moving watercourses, and in lush
meadows along small coastal streams, it occurs in abundance seldom

FEEDINO HABITS OV CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES V

attained elsewhere by snake populations in our western states. It is
an excellent swimmer, and may take to the water in eseapinj^r its
enemies. It can dive and hide under water, but it is more apt to
swim on the surface. It occasionally forages under water in small
stag-nant pools, but it is not apt to forage in swift water as do some
other kinds, notably tlie moccasin garter snake and Oregon gray garter
snake.

In June a few miles south of Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, these
snakes were found in abundance along a nearly dry creek bed with
stagnant pools. They were crawling and swimming through the shal-
low water, apparently in pursuit of abimdant tree-toad tadpoles, but
quickly left the water and escaped into high grass as the observer
approached each pool.

Late in July the writer observed these snakes along the course of
Cottonwood Creek, Siskiyou County, California, a few miles from
Hornbrook. At that time the creek had ceased flowing and water was
confined to isolated pools along the sandy stream bed, which was densely
.shaded by willow, nettle and other riparian growth. The drying pools
were teeming with small fish. In nearl.y every pool which the observer
approached, one or several snakes w^ere seen crawling or swimming
about through the shallow water in pursuit of the trapped fish.
T^sually tliey saw the observer while he was still several yards away,
and then darted out of the water into nearby thickets. Several which
were caught regurgitated fish which they had recently eaten. Although
both the mountain garter snake and the Oregon gray garter snake w'ere
known to occur in that general region, none could be found in this
locality where habitat conditions were apparently unusually favorable
for the common garter snake.

A captive individual repeatedly attacked an adult newt {Triturus
grannJosiis) in a pool in its cage, but the noxious dermal secretion of
the newt each time caused the snake to drop it.

At Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, Cali-
fornia, these snakes were found in abundance in high grass at the
edges of small meadows adjoining redwood forests. One of those
caught had eaten an adult marbled salamander; another had eaten a
red salamander (Enmtina cschscholtsii). They were difficult to cap-
ture or follow since they darted rapidly through the concealing grass.

These and other predation records as sunnnarized at the end of
this paper- show the general trend of food preferences in this kind of
snake. In keeping with its marshland habitat it seems to be mainly
an amphibian feeder. The amphibians taken include AellowJegged
find red-legged frogs, the introduced bullfi-og, the toad, tree toad, the
red salamander and the marbled salauumder; apparently all these
species are taken according to theii- local availability rather than
through any definite jn-eference on the part of the snake. Among
invertebrates, the slugs, earthworms aiul leeches are favorite foods.
Several kinds of fisli ai-e included in the diet. No definite instance of
the common garter snake ever having eaten trout is known to the
writer. It is probable, however, that at times small trout are taken
when they are crowded into small stagnant pools along drying water-
cour.ses. Under such cii'cumstances, the trapped fish are not apt to
survive and the snake predation can not be considered a serious factor

10 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

in reduc'inji' tlio siipplx' of lisli wliidi wdiiM otherwise be available to
fishermen. Since sirtalis iloes not (irdinjirilx- foraji'e in swift water, it is
not apt (o eateh trout under normal <M»n(li1ions. It is not common
alonp- the best trout streams, since its preferred habitat is in meadows
and marsldand.

Wandering- Garter Snake {Thaninophia ordinoidcfi var/rans)

Diagnostic Characters

size mcdiiiiii to lai'ii'e (22 to 39 inches in adults) ; dorsal stripe
dull, yellowish or brownish, and suffused with dusky color, present for
full lenuth of body but sometimes narrow and broken; lateral stripes
faint ; dorsal ground color pale brown or tan -with two alternately
placed rows of small, well separated, black spots betw^een dorsal and
lateral stripe on each side; scales in 21 lono'itudinal rows (this count
obtainable anyw^here on anterior two-thirds of body) ; supralabials
8, 8 ; infralabials 10, 10 ; eye relatively small with heavily pig-mented
iris, which has a narrow, pale rim around the pupil; ventral surface
marked medially with black, often in extensively continuous areas.

Distribution

In California confined to southern liigli Sierra Nevada and the
region east of the Sierra Nevada in Mono County and Owens Valley;
thence occurs generally eastward across the Great Basin and Rocky
^Mountain regions to Alberta, South Dakota and Oklahoma; north-
ward across Oregon and "Washington, and in British Columbia to
higher altitudes than reached by any other genus of reptile in w^estern
North America.

Habits

Of the California specimens for v»'hich feeding records are avail-
able, one was found trying to swallow a young song sparrow ; one con-
tained a lizard (Sceloporus graciosiis) ; one contained two slugs; one
contained two metamorphosing tree toads {Hyla rcgilla). The appar-
ent versatility in feeding habits suggested by these different kinds of
prey is borne out by feeding records for the entire range: Seventy
snakes contained an aggregate of 185 food items. Thirty-tAVO snakes
had eaten aquatic animals ; 38 had eaten animals which are mainly ter-
restrial and were probablj- caught out of the water, although in most
cases they were kinds characteristic of a stream-side habitat. Pish
Avere eaten most often ; 16 snakes had used this kind of food {Apocope,
Pantosteus, Cottus and others which were unidentified) ; 9 had eaten
tadpoles (Ilyla rcr/ilJa, Bufo horeas, ScapJiiopus hammondii) ; 6 had
eaten slugs; 7 had eaten earthworms; 6 had eaten mice (Peromyscus
maniculatus, Microtus montaniis) ; 6 had eaten leeches; 5 had eaten
lizards {Eumeces skiltonianus, TJta stanshuriana, Sceloporus occide^i-
i<dis and S. graciosus) ; 3 had eaten frogs (Rana canfahrigensis, Rana
pipiens) ; 4 had eaten birds {Passcrella, Melospiza, J unco) ; 3 had
eaten salamanders { Anil) y stoma) ; one had eaten tree toads (Hyla
regilln) ; and one had eaten snails.

Habitat data for this snake have been recorded by many writers.
In southeastern Washington it was found to be characteristic of water
margin associations (Dice, 1916, pp. 303-312). In Malheur County,

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA OARTER SNAKES 11

Oregon, along the Owyhee River, it was often seen lying in the water
at the edge of the river or swimming (I'rooking, 3934, p. 95). In the
Humboldt lliver Valley of ndi'tlicaslcni Nevada, it was Fdiiiid to be
confined to the immediate vicinity of permanent streams and to feed
in the water (Ruthven and Oaige, 1915, p. 11). Along the Quinn River
in northwestern Nevada, wandei'inu' garter snakes were found to be
common in grassy marshes and generally took refuge in the water of
irrigation ditches or pools (Taylor, 1912, p. 355).

At Burrard Inlet on the British Columbia coast, snakes of this
kind were found to l)e restricted to the beaches, where they occurred
about tide pools and fed upon li.sh, generally small cottids (I. M. Cowan
in litt.).

In July, at the Deschutes River, Oregon, the writer observed many
of these snakes and all were within a few feet of the water or actually
in it; suitable habitat conditions were limited to the streamside area
where there were alders, willows, grass and other riparian growth.
Elsewhere sage and juni])er were dominant and the terrain was arid.
Oue of the snakes seen was crawling and swimming among submerged
rocks out in the current, apparently foraging in the manner of the
moccasin garter snake and related forms.

At the Owyhee River in extreme southwestern Idaho during July,
the writer found these snakes in unusual abundance. They were feed-
ing on minnows and tree toad tadpoles, which were concentrated in
drying pools, and seemed to be doing all their foraging in the water.

In the arid Great Basin portion of its habitat, this subspecies is
necessarily confined to the near vicinity of watercourses. Because of
high temperature and seasonal fluctuation in volume of water and the
small size and isolation of drainage basins, these streams have meager
aquatic faunas. The scarcity of aquatic prey may promote habits of
terrestrial foraging in the wandering garter snake. In any case it
appears to be far more versatile in its feeding habits than any of the
other kinds here discussed. It may take mice, lizards, frogs, toads,
tadpoles or fish, according to their availability. The method of forag-
ing in streams where trout occur strongly suggests that it may some-
times catch them, though no actual records are available. In the State
of California, however, this snake is so restricted in range that it prob-
ably does not figure importantly as a trout predator.

Klamath Garter Snake (Thdiintophis ordinoides liscutatus)

Diagnostic Characters

Size large (29 to 39 inches in adults) ; dorsal stripe 1 2/2 scale rows
wide, yellow or orange yellow, its edges not sharply defined; dorsal
ground color dark gray or brown, nearly black; conspicuous pale
yellowish flecks on sides; chin white; ventral sui'face of body and tail
pale grayish yellow, often irregularly blotched medially witli black;
supralabials in eight pairs; scales in at least 21 longitudinal rows (this
or a higher count obtainable anywhere on anterior two-thirds of body),
with, in about half the specimens, an additional scale row intercalated
for a short distance between the fourth and fifth on one or both sides,
making a total of 22 or 23 rows where the maximum number occurs
(usually about one-third of tlu^ distance from head back toward

3 — 9785S

rj CALll'OKMA FISH AM) (iAAlli

posterior end of body) : ventral scales 184 to 160; iris dark brown, with
narrow, i)ale yellow niar<i-in encirclin,';' pupil; jiroor-nlar seale on one
or both side.s of head often divided by horizontal suture into upper
and lower portions.

Distribution

Klamath Lakes basin, Oregon, and south westward along Klamath
River to the Califoi-nia State line, eastward through Goose Lake basin
to vicinity of Warner Lakes. Confined throughout the arid region
it inhabits to immediate vicinity of permanent streams and lakes; in
local occurrence confined mainly to rocky places, less partial to swamps
or meadows.

The Klamath garter snake varies throughout its range, and on
tlie west along Klamalh Eiver merges into the Oregon gray garter
snake by reduction in size and in numbei- of scale rows and ventral
scales, dulling of pattern, and changes in body proportions. On the
east it mei'ges with the wandering garter snake, and in the southeast,
in the Warner Lakes region, it intergrades with the mountain garter
snake through reduction in size, numbers of ventral scales and scale
roAvs, and change to more slender body form.

Habits

Van Denburgh and Slevin (1918, p. 25) described this snake as
occurring in enormous numbers in the vicinity of Klamath Falls.
They stated : ' ' We counted a hundred and eighty on a small rock
about a yard in diameter in Link (Klamath) River, and at another
point on the same river, caught fourteen with one grab with both
hands. ' '

During the summers of 1934, 1935 and 1936, the writer made
several tri])s to the upper Klamath River, bnt nowhere found these
garter snakes very abundant; often, in the most favorable locations,
hours were spent searching before even one could be found.

On May 6, 1934, eleven were found along the river gorge below
Spencer Creek; all were on basalt boulders within five feet of the
edge of the water. Several were in small patches of tules growing
among the rocks and offering shelter. None could be found along
the river above the gorge north of the bridge where U. S. Highway 97
crosses. There the shore was swampy, rising gradually to a meadow
Avith no rocky margins, and this habitat Avas occu|)ied by the conuuon
garter snake.

Several miles farther doAvn the river, on June 9, 1934, sixteen
were found during a day's collecting. There the riA^er gorge was
several hundred feet deep, and the stream itself Avas SAvift, only
30 to 50 feet Avide, with marginal areas of smooth basalt boulders.
Because the canyon Avails rose abruptly from the river, ripariari
groAvth was limited to a few small, scattered patches of tules in
sheltered situations at the edge of the Avater, and there AA^ere occasional
short gravel bars. All the snakes Avere on rocks at the edge of the
river — in no instance more than ten feet from the water. The larger
snakes Avere all taken among boulders, but juveniles were taken among
smaller rocks on gravel bars. In attempting to escape, the snakes
made for the water and, if they succeeded in reaching it, swam rapidly
down to the bottom.

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 13

On June 10 and 11, 10:'"), in ilu> river p'orji'e al)ove the mouth of
Spencer Creek and alon^' tlie lower portion of tlie creek's course,
30 were seen. The <i'ori>'e is narrow and boulder-strewn. All the
Klamatli garter snakes seen were in rocky situations and most of
them were on boulders within ei.ulit feet of tlie river's ed^jre. Eleveii
common garter snakes seen in the same general locality were all in
grassy situations or in parts of the creek adjoining meadow habitat.

On -July 4, 1934, near Adel, Tjake County, Oregon, seven were
soon ill the rocky canyon of Doej) Creek, ^^•here they were found on
bouklers at the edge of the water or crawling among submerged rocks
in the swift current. When alarmed they attempted to escape by diving
and liiding beneath rocks under water. On the same day, at the
Sprague River near Beatty, Klamath County, Oregon, four were col-
lected along the river, there flowing through an open, level valley, and
bordered with thickets of willow and cottonwood. All were found in
grass about 100 feet from the stream; two were coiled under a heavy
timber, the others were on marshy ground near a willow thicket.

This evidence seems to show that the Klamatli garter snake is, in
general, confined to the immediate vieinitj^ of permanent streams, an
ecologic restriction imposed upon it by the generally arid and inhos-
l)itable character of the region it inhabits. It is also largely confined
to portions of watercourses which are rocky or boulder-strewn, and it
avoids the extensive areas of marshland within its geographic range.
It is mainly dependent on fish and adults and tadpoles of frogs for
food. Trout and other kinds of game fishes may be eaten by it, but
those fish identified in the stomachs examined included only sculpins.
suckers and minnows, not valued bj- fishermen.

Oregon Gray Garter Snake (TJiamnophis onlinoidcs hxjdrophila)

Diagnostic Characters

Size medium (usually between 17 and 32 inches in adults) ;
dorsal stripe dull yellow, indistinct, or sometimes entirely absent, not
sharply set off from bluish gray or brownish gray dorsolateral area,
Avliieh has a checkered pattern of two rows of alternately placed black
blotches on each side; chin white; lateral stripe dull, grayish yellow,
or absent; iris pale, uniformly grayish or brownish; scale rows on
body 19 or less frequently 21 (one or the other of these counts obtain-
able anywhere on anterior tAvo-thirds of body) ; sujn-alabials in eight
pairs; infralabials in ten pairs; ventral surface immaculate or nearly
so, pale with pinkish or purplish suffusion posteriorly.

Distribution

Drainages of the Umpqua and Kogue rivers in southwestern Ore-
gon, and of the Smith, Klamath, Mad, Eel, Mattole, Garcia, Noyo and
Russian rivers in California; also northwestern portion of Sacramento
River drainage. Intergi-ades with the Klamath garter snake b}^ increase
in size, increase in numbers of scale rows and ventral plates, and darken-
ing of ground coloi- with accompanying brightening of stripes, along the
upper Klamath River between the mouth of the Shasta River and the
Oregon State line. Intergrades with the moccasin garter snake in the
upper Sacramento Valley, by increase in size and in numbers of scale

14 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

rows and ventral plates, and dulling of stripes. A population with a
bright yellow dorsal stripe and a dark ground color, somewhat resem-
bling the mountain garter snake in sniHM-fieial appearance, occurs in
Trinity and castci-ii .Mcndoi-ino counties, lu tliis region, the pale color
of the iris and the narrow, elongate shape of the head serve to distin-
guish this subspecies from the mountain garter snake.

Habits

The many records of stomach contents of the Oregon gray garter
snake summarized at the end of this paper are supplemented by a con-
sidei-able amount of evidence obtained from direct observation of the
foraging. To illustrate the habitat preferences and general field
behavior of these snakes, observations are recorded below for some of
the localities where they were found in unusual abundance.

On April 19, 1934, at Trail Creek, 16 were collected and about the
same number escaped. None was more than two feet from the water;
several were swimming when found but the majority were lying on
rocks at the edge of the water or at midstream. A large one in the
process of foraging was slowly feeling its way over and around sub-
merged rocks. In escaping, some of the snakes dove and hid beneath
rocks, but most of them swam to the opposite side of the creek and
crawled out of the water to hide among rocks, piles of driftwood, and
tangled roots.

On July 27, when the locality was again visited, the snakes were
nearly as abundant as before (21 collected), and all seen were in the
water or within two feet of its edge. In attempting to escape they
invariably dove and hid beneath rocks on the bottom; the water level
had receded well below the piles of driftwood and riparian growth,
which were no longer readily accessible for shelter, as they had been
earlier in the season.

On May 23, 1935, at Lobster Creek, Rogue River, one was caught
as it was crawling into a brush fence at the edge of a plowed field about
75 feet from the creek. It contained a sculpin, and evidently had left
the creek in order to find a sheltered spot where it could digest this
food. Of the few others found on other occasions at similar distances
from water, some, likewise, had aquatic prey in their stomachs and in
every instance obviously were seeking shelter late in the day or immedi-
ately preceding a storm.

At the Sacramento River, seven miles north of Dunsmuir, Siskiyou
County, in Juiu\ 1934, one, seen on rocks at the edge of the water, dove
and escaped but later at the same place a splasliing sound revealed the
presence of the snake struggling with a six-inch trout which it had
caught. It was holding the fish by the throat so that the gill covers
were held shut and circulation of water through the gills was pre-
vented. The reptile was pushing the fish shoreward, apparently trying
to slide it out of the water onto the rocks. At intervals the trout
struggled vigorously and dragged its captor partly out into the cui--
rent. The snake was twisted over on its back and w^ould have been
swept downstream but for the fact that its tail was securely wound
among the rocks. It played the fish, using the same principle as a
fisherman with rod and reel in allowing its body to yield somewhat to
the fish's struggles, yet exerting constant pressure upon it. After

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFOKXIA GARTER SNAKES 15

about ten minutes the fisli appeared to be exliausted and its strn<]:jrles
had nearly ceased. Then the snake worked its jaws aronnd the front
of the tront's liead and coinnienced swallowing it.

At Redwood Creek, TTnmboldt County, California, in -July, 1935,
25 were seen, all of them at the edge of the water, on rocks at mid-
stream, or aotnally in the water. Tn eseapinir they almost invariably
swam out into deep water and hid uiuler submerged rocks or swam
into willow thickets overhanging the stream. A large one, cornered in
a narrow inlet by the writer wading toward it from the middle of the
stream, chose to dive between his legs rather than to seek shelter among
boulders on shore. Another, found foraging, was feeling its way
among pebbles beneath water 18 inches deep in the swift current of a
riffle. Factors apparently favoring the abundance of these snakes at
this locality were the large permanent stream of clear water and many
large, still pools, shallow riffles, and pebbly beaches. Trout were abun-
dant in the stream; yellow-legged frogs were common along the shore,
and their tadpoles were swarming in the shallow water.

On July 17, 1936, at the Mattole Eiver, Humboldt County. 25
were seen. One was standing on its tail in the middle of the stream,
with only its head protruding above the surface. It drew back and hid
beneath a submerged rock when approached. One, encountered swim-
ming in the middle of a deep pool about 30 feet from shore, dove and
swam along the bottom. The others were seen at the edge of the water.
Those which succeeded in reaching the water almost alw^ays dove and
hid among submerged rocks; some emerged after a few seconds and
tried to hide among rocks on shore. In this locality the stream was 30
to 50 feet wide, with a rocky bed, wide pebbly beaches, extensive
stretches of shallow water, and occasional deep pools.

At Cobbs, Van Duzen River, Humboldt County, July 1, 1936, 19
were seen. One was found coiled under a rock at the edge of the water
late in the afternoon; another w^as found in gravel five feet from the
stream ; all the rest were found in the water or succeeded in reaching
it before they could be caught. One escaped into a willow thicket
after it swam across a pool. The snakes were scarce or entirely absent
from extensive stretches of the stream where it was bordered by barren
gravel deposits with no riparian growth.

On June 29 and 30, 1936, along the south fork of the Eel River
near Piercy, ^Mendocino County, 44 were seen. xVll were in the water
when found or took to it in attemptino- to escape, except for one caught
before it had time to dive from the boulder on which it was basking.
The snakes seemed to avoid stretches of open sandy beaches but were
especiallv common where there were shallow rocky pools along the
shore. Trout and tadpoles of the yellow-legged frog were common
there.

At many other localities gray garter snakes w^ere found under
somewhat similar conditions but in smaller numbers. At all places
where they were found, these snakes were closely restricted to streams
having rocky beds and a permanent flow of clear, swift water. They
depeiid on water both as a place of refuge from danger and as a forag-
ing place.

Snakes of this kind seem to be restricted to the vicinity of streams
where there are trees and bushes near the water, furnishing shade and

]6 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

shelter, but do not occur wliere the streams are continuously walled in
by dense vegetation. Exposed rocks in niarjiinal streamside areas or
at midstream, accessible for baskinji- places, seem to be an ecolo<iic
necessity, in heavily forested rejiions where streams are so well shaded
that basking places are scarce, tlie snakes are correspondingly scarce.
Because water temperatures in which the gray garter snake occurs
are generally beh)w the optimum for maxinnim activity, prolonged
foraging in the water would result in decreased activity. Probably
intervals of basking are necessary to maintain the snake's body tem-
perature at a level which will allow efficient foraging, except in unusu-
ally warm weather.

It is evident that the gray garter snake is exceedingly aquatic in
its habits. All the food is found under water, or among rocks near
the edge of the water. Ninety-six of the specimens examined, repre-
senting 27 widely scattered localities, had eaten a total of 139 different
items. Of these items, 129 were animals of kinds which must have
been found under water by the foraging snakes; the rest were all
yellow-legged frogs (Bona loylii), known to be closely restricted to the
vicinity of streams, so that some were likely caught under water also.

Fish and their eggs and yellow-legged frogs comprise more than
80 per cent (in number of individuals taken) of the recorded food,
but larvae of salamanders {Bicampiodon, Triturus) are occasionally
eaten. Fish were eaten more than twice as often as Ra^ia hoylii, and
of the latter species, tadpoles were much more often preyed upon than
were metamorphosed frogs. Recognizable fish remains consisted almost
entirely of sculpins and young trout; the former were eaten almost
twice as often as the latter. The trout predation is thus compensated,
in part at least, by predation on sculpins, which are themselves notori-
ous destroyers of trout spawn and young fry. Probably fish are seldom
or never caught in open water; the snakes hunt among rock crevices
and crannies on the bottom, and catch animals there which could
easily escape them in the open. Sculpins, largely confined to this
rock}^ bottom habitat, are, therefore, caught more often than trout,
which spend much of the time up from the bottom, in the current.
This subspecies is responsible for nearly all garter snake predation
on trout in northwestern California.

Moccasin Garter Snake [Thamnopliis (O'diiioides couchii)
Diagnostic Characters

Size medium to large (length usually between 22 and 38 inches
in adults) ; dorsal stripe dull yellow, suffused with dusky coloring,
usually absent on posterior portion of body and tail; lateral stripe
distinct, dull yellow; dorsolateral area between dorsal and lateral
stripes brown, with two rows of alternately placed black marks, usually
larger than interspaces so that their corners overlap slightly; these
spots tend to be square; supralabials brownish superiorly, pale
interiorly, marked posteriorly with black; scales usually in 21 longi-
tudinal rows (this count obtainable anywhere on anterior tAvo-thirds of
body) ; supralabials 8, 8; infralabials il, 11 or reduced to 10 on one or
both sides; gastrosteges average more numerous than in any other
garter snake (183 to 162) ; eyes relatively large, with pale, yellowish,
uniformly colored iris.

FEEDIXC. lIAlilTS OF CALIFOHXIA (lARTKli SNAKES 17

Distribution

Streams of the Sierra Nevada from tlie Pit River south to the
Teluu'liapi ]\romitains, but do^s not occtir at hiali altitudes — mainly
t'ontinod to Transitiou and T^ppci- Souorau T^ife Zones, in liabilat
preferences closely restricted In vicinity of runninf>- -watei- aud usually
to streams which are permanent thionshout the year. The moccasin
•rarter snake intei-<j:rade.s -with the Ore<>on fri-ay p-arter snake in the
Sacramento Valley, and interjifades ^vitll the uiaut <>'arter snake alon^
the eastern edpe of the San Joa(|niii Valley. Tn the extreme northern
part of its ranjie the moccasin crarter snake lias more ventral scales, has
eleven pairs of infralabial scales, more distinct dorsal stripe, and more
distinctly checkered ])attern. and ofteji has extensive black markinus on
the ventral surface. All these characters underj?o j?radual change
toward the southern part of the ranp:e, and in the trend of its charac-
ters this subspecies approaches the southern Califoi'uia prarter snake,
which occurs south of the Tehachapi Range.

Habits

At Lake Britton, Pit River, in Shasta County on a visit to the
Burney Creek State Pish Platchery in ^May, 1934, I was told by the
foreman that garter snakes of this kind were abundant in the vicinity
and were a serious pest becau.se of their destruction of small fish. I
was shown a preseiwed specimen killed in the act of sw^allowing a trout,
and the foreman pointed out a rock pile just above high water mark
where lie believed that a colony of the snakes hibernated, since they
were numerous there in spring.

In a letter to the late Dr. Joseph Grinnell, dated June 1, 1935,
T. Tj. Ilussey of tlie California Division of F'ish and Game wrote of
these snakes: "They are very plentiful along the headwaters of the
Carson River and its tributaries, and take henYy toll of trout from
these streams. They often invaded our hatchery at Markleeville and
took fry from the troughs. One about 16 inches in length was caught
by Mr. Tutt; upon opening: it he counted 21 fry from its stomach,
which it had taken from a trough."

At the San Joaquin Expei-imental Range in the dry foothill
country of the digger pine belt, these snakes were found in an atypical
habitat, for the streams where they occurred were transitory and dried
up almost com])letely in spring or early summer. In the 1938 season,
when observations were made, the first garter snake was found on
March 22, but few were seen until mid-April. During the lattei- half
of April, and continuously through May and early June, many Avere
seen daily, and they could be found at almost any time by walking for
a short distance along one of the small creeks. Nearly all those seen
were along the edge of w^ater, but some were found in grass a hundred
yards or more from water. Others were found at isolated pools, such
as those in old wells or mine shafts, Avhere an abundant food supply of
tadpoles was available. After the first week of June the snakes sud-
denly A-anished just at tlic time when the streams were drying up.
Throughout the remainder of June, July and August, only a few were
seen in the locations Avhere they had been so abundant earlier in the
season. Two reservoirs on the Range were tenanted all summer by a
few which could be seen daily, but there were no concentrations in

18 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

these places. Tlie remainder of the population evidently underwent
a sudden cessation of activity Avitli the (lisai)pearance of their habitat
and food supply (certainly a normal seasonal occurrence there). The
active season in this foothill locality is hence less than two months
annually. Evidence that these snahes actually remain in the vicinity
throug-jiout the year, and merely tend to keep under shelter duriufr the
dry season, was furnislied by the feAV seen during the summer. One
was seen in mid-July on one of the few cloudy days of the sunnner;
at 5.30 p.m. it was emerp-inp: from a s(|uirrel burrow near the ed<i'e of
the dry creek bed. Four days later, at 6.15 p.m., another was seen in
the mouth of a squirrel burrow near the creek bed. One day in August,
a juvenile was seen to dart from beneath aii overhanging: rock, across
the sand of the creek bed, in pursuit of a young tree toad which eluded
it and escaped.

Amphibians comprised all the recorded food at this locality ; of
the items eaten, 70 were tadpoles and two were larval salamanders.
The remainder were all amphibians of terrestrial kinds, most of them
newly metamorjiliosed — ten toads, two tree toads, and one spadefoot
toad. At this locality the moccasin garter snake seems to depend
almost entirely on tadpoles in the absence of other preferred foods, and
is limited in its time of foraging to the brief part of the year when
tadpoles are available.

At all other localities where these snakes were found, there were
permanent streams affording a continuous habitat and varied food
supply with no evidence of diminished activity during the hot, drj*
summer.

The aquatic tendencies of this subspecies are emphasized by the
field notes of persons collecting it. Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale
(1930, p. 151) wrote of it in the upper Sacramento Valley: "These
snakes frequented brush and drif tAvood at the edges of the streams. ' '
Under the heading of Thamnophis ordinoides atraius (specimens in
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology identified as couchii by the writer)
they remarked {loc. cit.) -. "One from near Red Bluff was in a thicket
of sycamore shoots close to the Sacramento River. At Cone's one was
found at the edge of a field ["along creek" (Linsdale MS)] one was
at the side of an irrigation ditch, and the other beneath a board close
to a ditch. ' '

At Yosemite Valley, on June 25, 1915, C. L. Camp observed (MS)
that these snakes almost always took to the water when alarmed and
were difficult to capture.

Of a series collected in the Little Kern Lake region during the
summer of 1934, AV. B. Richardson wrote (MS) that they were found in
the water of the lake, among aquatic weeds along the edge of the river,
and in a wet, brush.v area between the lake and the river.

At Hat Creek, Shasta County, in June, two were found under typ-
ical habitat conditions. A juvenile was coiled on a rock at the edge of
the water. An adult swam to the bank and crawled out of the water
momentarily, then, perhajis slightly alarmed, it dove and swam down
at a steep angle toward the base of a clump of tules submerged to a
depth of several feet. In May at Lake Britton, several were seen coiled
on rocks within a few feet of the water. Those which attempted to
escape made for the water and dove. Four taken in May near the

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 19

Sacramento River in Shasta County were swimming in an irrigation
ditch or lying at the edge of the water. Five seen at tlie Susan River
Canyon east of Susanville in June were found on boulders at the edge
of the stream, except for one crawling through grass several yards
from the water. Two escaped by diving and hiding under submerged
rocks. Of two found at this same locality in August, one was crawling
under a submerged rock at the edge of the water, the other was lying
in a shallow pool.

These snakes were found in greatest abundance along the Middle
Fork of Feather River near Cromberg, Plumas County, in August.
The river was there moderately swift, with a rocky bed, and with many
large projecting boulders. These boulders often supported grass tus-
socks, which were favorite shelters for the snakes. Most of the garter
snakes seen were in or near small pools along shore protected from the
full force of the current ; in many of these pools small trout and
suckers were abundant. Of forty moccasin garter snakes found here
for which data were recorded, 32 were actually in the water or were
coiled on protruding boulders at midstream, seven were among rocks at
the edge of the stream, and one was in grass beneath trees several yards
from the water. Residents of Cromberg were familiar with this "fish
snake" or "black water snake," which they unanimously condemned
as a destroyer of trout.

Several snakes were observed in August along the Truckee River,
Nevada County. Three were found lying at the edge of the stream
or partly in the water. Another seen swimming in shallow water near
shore dove and attempted to hide under a rock when it was headed off
from deep water. One dove when alarmed and lay on the sand bottom
in the current at a depth of about a foot. Another was lying on the
bottom in shallow water when first seen. A large one was seen basking
on a boulder. The writer waded across the stream toward it ; after
he had approached within a few feet the snake suddenly lunged
toward him and toward the water, striking out with mouth open as
it did so, though no threatening move had been made toward it.

Most of the moccasin garter snakes collected were of savage tem-
perament and the writer was often bitten while catching them. When
picked up by the body or tail, the snake would not squirm to free itself,
but immediately would draw itself up in an S-shaped loop in striking
position, facing its captor and flattening its head and body. It would
then dodge and strike back if attempt was made to catch it b}* the head.

Snakes of this kind occur mainly along swift, rocky streams of the
foothills and mountains. As nearly all foraging is done in the water,
aquatic animals comprise most of the food and are usually caught
beneath and among submerged rocks.

Trout streams are favorite habitats and trout are commonly preyed
upon; of the 16 individual fishes in stomachs examined by the writer,
11 were tentatively or positively identified as trout. The bad reputa-
tion of California garter snakes as fish destroyers is based almost
entirely on the depredations of this snake and the closely related Ore-
gon gray garter snake. Significantly, no slugs, worms, adult sala-
manders, lizards, mice, birds, or other small terrestrial animals such as
are commonly preyed upon by other garter snakes were found to be
included in the diet of the moccasin garter snake. It is specialized for

4—97858

20 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME ^

finding and catching its prey in the water. The two most important
food sources — tadpoles and small fish — are taken according to local
and seasonal availability.

Giant Garter Snake {Thamnophis ordinoides gigas)

Diag-nostic Characters

Size larger than in any other garter snake (up to five feet) ; dorsal
stripe variable, faint and dull yellow, sometimes hardly discernible;
dorsal ground color brown with well separated and rounded black
spots; lateral stripes yellowish, usually distinct but occasionally lack-
ing ; supralabials in eight pairs ; scale rows in 23 or 21 rows on anterior
two-thirds of body ; preocular scale usually undivided.

Distribution

Floor of the San Joaquin and southern Sacramento valleys, Cali-
fornia, from Antioch and Sacramento south to Buena Vista Lake ; con-
fined to vicinity of permanent fresh water. In the Buena Vista Lake
region these snakes niore often have 23 scale rows than they do in the
northern part of the range. Suppression of the stripes is more fre-
quent in the northern populations. Along the eastern edge of its
range, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, the giant garter snake inter-
grades with the moccasin garter snake by reduction in body size, reduc-
tion in numbers of scale rows, and increase in numbers of ventral
scales. The Coast Range divide separates the giant garter snake from
the southern California garter snake on the west, and these two closely
related forms do not intergrade geographically.

Habits

One of these snakes, collected near Los Banos, Merced Countv, in
June, had eaten a fish which was too well digested to be identified.
Another from near Lanare, Fresno County, in June, had eaten a small
carp (Cyprinus carpio). These are the only definite feeding records
available. Field observations indicate this subspecies is probably
more aquatic in its habits than are any of the other California garter
snakes. Van Den burgh (1923, pp. 79 and 843) stated that he had
seen them in Buena Vista Lake in tule patches at distances from shore,
sunning themselves in considerable numbers, but that they were so shy
they were hard to shoot, sliding into the water at the least alarm.

In April, 1936, the writer hunted them along irrigation canals
between Buttonwillow and Tupman, Kern County. Although they
were fairly common they were so alert and timid that the usual method
of catching garter snakes by hand after a stealthy approach invariably
failed. The banks of the canals were steep and overgrown with weeds,
tules and willows. It seemed to be characteristic of the snakes that
they basked directly over the water partly screened from view by the
dense tangle of vegetation, and when alarmed plunged downward into
the opaque water. They usually did not reappear for several minutes
and then only after swimmincr for distances under water. Usually they
took alarm and dove while the observer was still 30 feet or more away,
and often before they had been sighted basking on the bank. Those
seen in the water swam easily, with slow undulations, maintaining posi-
tion against the current with little effort.

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 21

Wherever these snakes were encountered hy the writer, bullfrogs
and carp were so abundant that they were tlie most conspicuous ani-
mals of the aquatic fauna. Probably these two introduced species now
figure importantly in the food of the giant garter snake. Judging
from the markedly aquatic proclivities observed, most of the food must
be secured in the water. Fishes and amphibians probably comprise
nearly all the food.

The vallej^ floor habitat does not include any trout streams, hence
this snake is not a trout predator. Bass, sunfish, catfish, carp and
various native minnows are common in its habitat, and all of these may
be included among the species preyed upon.

Southern California Garter Snake (Thamnophis hammondii)

Diagnostic Characters

Size medium to large (ranging from 22 to 38 inches) ; no dorsal
stripe ; lateral stripes distinct, yellowish on second and third scale
rows ; dorsal ground color brownish gray with four rows of alternately
placed black spots, which are small and well separated; scales in 21
longitudinal rows (this count obtainable anywhere on anterior two-
thirds of body) ; supralabials 8, 8; infralabials 10, 10; eyes relatively
very large, with pale, uniformly colored irises; chin white; belly
immaculate, with pinkish suffusion posteriorly.

Distribution

River systems mainly west of inner Coast Range divide, from
Monterey Bay, California, southward through Sierra San Pedro Martir
in northern Lower California; also occurs east of the divide along the
Mojave RiA^er, and in a few other streams which drain interiorly. Con-
fined to near vicinity of permanent fresh water. Does not intergrade
with any other form, but is closely related to Thamnophis ordinoides
couchii, from which it is separated by the Tehachapi Mountains.

Habits

Grinnell and Grinnell (1907, p. 50) wrote: "This snake feeds on
tadpoles, small frogs, and fish. We have seen a garter snake so gorged
v/ith tadpoles that when alarmed it had to give up some of its cargo,
the released tadpoles wriggling out of its mouth apparently none the
worse for wear. ' '

Klauber (1924, p. 16) wrote: "iVs an indication of the voracious
habits of these snakes, it may be mentioned that one moderate sized
individual undisturbed at being caught and placed in a glass quart
jar, ate thirty Hyla refjilla as rapidly as they were handed in. ' ' The
same author recorded (1931, p. 72) that one about three feet long had
eaten an adult toad eight inches long, a juvenile contained a full-grown
tree toad, and one contained a tree toad and a worm.

The writer discounts Stephens' (1921, p. 63) statement that the
food includes insects, since no specific instances are cited, and no
corroborative data are supplied by other observers. Insect fragments
frequently have been found in garter snake stomachs by the writer, but
in every instance it was evident that these indigestible chitinous remains
were residual from the stomachs of small insectivorous vertebrates — •
fish, amphibians, or lizards— which had been eaten by the snakes.

22 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

Specimens of this snake in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology were
collected under the following habitat conditions : San Lucas, Monterey
County, in September — "in willow sprouts near water"; Salinas River,
Monterey County, in September — "on dry river bottom"; Lower Cali-
fornia— ' ' among damp grass on marshy ground " ; " curled in bare spot
near creek"; "under willows near creek"; "at edge of creek under
willow bush"; "among damp grass and rocks at edge of stream";
' ' at water 's edge among loose rocks and sand " ; "in ' spear grass ' near
marsh. ' '

Along the San Benito River in April, 1936, these snakes were
found to be rare and restricted to places where the stream channel was
cut through loose bed rock with deep pools which remained through
the summer. Along most parts of the river the banks were open with
no riparian growth and there was but little aquatic life. During the
summer of 1936, D. H. Johnson and F. G. Palmer found southern
California garter snakes in numbers along certain parts of the San
Benito River. Those seen usually escaped by diving into deep pools,
where thej^ hid in inaccessible places, often beneath willow thickets
overhanging the water.

This species seems to be most common along streams having rocky
beds bordered by thickets of willow, or other dense vegetation furnish-
ing shelter. Streams where it occurs often become almost dry or
reduced to series of disconnected pools in summer, and within its range
watercourses are in general smaller and less permanent than are those
within the ranges of the Oregon gray garter snake and moccasin garter
snake in the northern part of the State. Like these forms, the southern
California garter snake is a potential fish predator, and locally it may
be even more important in this respect because where it occurs, fish are
apt to be in small streams or pools where they are easily caught. An
instance of predation on trout by a snake ailmost surely of this species
was seen in the Santa Anita River by Richard S. Croker, who recorded
that the snake, having caught the six-inch fish under water, held it
firmly near the head and took it ashore alongside a rock on damp sand.
As its struggles subsided, the snake shifted it about and swallowed it
head first, taking nearly half an hour in the process.

On the whole, however, strictly aquatic prey species are less numer-
ous and generally distributed within the range of this species than they
are farther north, and their lack is compensated in the snakes' diet by
increased predation on tree toads and their tadpoles, usually abundant
in southern California streams.

Mountain Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides elegans)

Diagnostic Characters

Size medium to small (22 to 34 inelies in adults) ; dorsal stripe
bright yellow, 1^- scale rows wide, contrasting with black ground color
between dorsal and lateral stripes ; chin white ; lateral stripes pale yel-
low; iris dfirk; scale rows on body 21 to 19 (one or the other of these
counts obtainable anywhere on anterior two-thirds of body) ; supra-
labials in 8 pairs; infralabials in 10 pairs; ventral surface pale, some-
times marked with black; top of head black, paling to brown on snout.

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 23

Distribution

Southwestern Orep-on from south end of Willamette Valley south-
ward through Umpqua and Rogue River basins; in California occurs
in northern part from Warner Mountains westward to eastern Mendo-
cino County, south through coast ranges to Mount St. Helena, and
throughout the Sacramento Valley; entire Sierra Nevada except at
high altitudes in southern part. An isolated population occurring
in southern California is confined to high altitudes in the San Ber-
nardino Range. Occurs also in extreme western Nevada, along Smoke
Creek and the Truckee and Carson rivers.

Habits

Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale (1930, p. 152) stated that one was
seen in July at Willow Lake, Lassen County, California, eating a shrew
which was caught in a trap, and another at Eagle Lake, Lassen County,
in May, disgorged a fish a quarter of an inch long.

Richardson (1915, p. 433) recorded that at Tallac, El Dorado
County, California, these snakes were frequently seen along small
streams catching minnows (Agosia [=zApocope] and Richardsonius),
and one contained a frog (Rana pipiens). (These observations may be
based partly upon the moccasin garter snake, as the author did not
recognize its distinctness from the present form.)

Grinnell (1908, p. 166) wrote of this form in the San Bernardino
Mountains that it was most abundant along the shallow margins of
streams and in cienegas but that he saw a good many on dry mountain
sides as much as a quarter of a mile from water. Grinnell, Dixon and
Linsdale (1930, p. 152) found it in the Lassen Peak region in the fol-
lowing situations : in willow clump close to clover field ; under rock ; in
bottom of dry well ; on ground on ridge covered with yellow pines ;
along rocky canyon walls ; at nearly dried up pool in creek bed, where
minnows and tadpoles were concentrated.

Field notes of collectors for the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
show capture of these snakes under the following circumstances: in
small lake at Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park ; in swampy
meadow at Kings River Canyon ; in meadow at 4400 feet, on divide
12 miles north of Yolla Bolly Mountain, Trinity County; dry ridge
in yellow pine association near Oroville, Butte County ; in yellow pine
forest on South Yolla Bolly Mountain, Tehama County ; in willow patch
at Emerald Lake, 9340 feet, Tulare County.

The writer's field notes record captures as follows:

For Oregon specimens in Jackson County: under board a few
feet from intermittent stream near Beagle ; in water at Trail Creek ; on
dry ridge in yellow pine and manzanita association half a mile from
Squaw Lake ; on bank two feet from water at Applegate River ; in
nearly dry pool of intermittent stream at Cottonwood Creek near
Cole ; on ridge in Garry oak and buekbrush half a mile from the near-
est water, south of Medford ; dry hillside near flume, half a mile from
Little Applegate River; road, 100 yards from water near junction of
Little and Big Applegate rivei-s; under board on a sawdust pile 100
feet from creek near Hyatt Dam; clearing near buildings, 200 feet
from Emigrant Creek. In Curry County: thicket of thimbleberry,
alder and willow, a few yards from Burns Creek; in dry grass 100

24 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

yards from Eogiie River, and another on bank of old placer workings
more than a quarter of a mile from water at Solitude Bar; in wild
grape bushes ten feet from Kogue River at Agness. In Lane County :
dr3% rolling meadow land one-quarter mile from creek near Eugene;
meadow at edge of .stream ]iear middle fork of the AVillamette River.

In California, snakes Avere found in iSi.skiyou County : in road on
drj^ hillside about one-quarter mile from water at Applegate River ; in
short grass at edge of Butte Creek near Mount Hebron ; in grass at
edge of creek near Weed. In Lassen County : Susan River eight miles
west of Susanville (three jm'eniles, one in the water, one crossing a
gravel bar, and one in a rock crevice near the edge of the water) ; Ash
Creek (23 adults and young, on grassy banks of creek and on branches
and logs over the Avater) . In !Modoc County : in marshj^ field near
Adin, 100 feet from Rush Creek ; rocks at edge of Pit River, at Canby
Bridge. In Shasta County : in bush beside intermittent stream of Salt
Creek, seven miles north of Redding. In Tuolumne County: near
StraAvberr}" (one in grass at edge of creek, and one under board near
edge of creek). In Placer County: in grass near edge of Truckee
River. In Mono County : under boards 15 feet from Rush Creek.

In Nevada in Douglas County : dead on road at least a quarter of
a mile from nearest Avater at Stateline, Lake Tahoe.

As shoAvn by these notes, this subspecies disjDlays to a certain
degree the instinctive tendency common to all garter snakes, to seek
out the vicinitj^ of Avater. IIoAvever, it is not strictly aquatic and does
not depend directly on the presence of Avater either as a source of food
or as a place of escape. In its mainly terrestrial habits it contrasts
sharply Avith the more aquatic kinds such as the moccasin garter snake
and the Oregon gray garter snake. With fcAv exceptions, young moun-
tain garter snakes Avere found in the immediate vicinitj^ of streams.
Apparently they haA^e a stronger predilection for riparian conditions
than haA^e adults. Small animals suitable to them as food — slugs,
earthAvorms and newly mPtamorj)hosed amphibians — are apt to be
abundant in such moist situations. Adults have been found more often
in dry forests at distances from Avater. Relatively large animals eaten
by them, AA'hich might have been caught in such dry situations — lizards,
mice, toads, and adult tree toads — make up most of the bulk of the
recorded food, though they comprise less than half the total number of
animals eaten. Slugs exceed all other kinds of animals in numbers
eaten, but they make up only a small portion of the total volume of
food taken by the snakes examined. All slugs eaten AA^ere small (mostly
less than half an inch long) and Avere found in young or half-groAA'n
snakes taken in damp, meadoAv, or streamside habitats.

In the arid portion of its range — Modoc and Lassen counties, Cali-
fornia, and extreme Avestern Nevada — the mountain garter snake's
aquatic tendencies are much stronger than in other parts of its range.
In this region, dominated b}- juniper and sage, or by sparse, open
forests of yellow pine, small animal life is scarce and daytime summer
temperatures are unfavorably high. I'hese conditions tend to restrict
garter snakes to the vicinity of water, Avhere animal life is more
common, and the more abundant vegetation furnishes protection from
high temperatures, as these snakes are strictly diurnal. The entire

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 25

range of the mountain garter snake except this northeastern portion is
also occupied by snakes of the moccasin trronp (couchii, hydrophila,
hammondii), which are aquatic in their liabits. The absence of com-
petition from these specialized aquatic forais in Lassen and Modoc
counties may promote aquatic tendencies in the mountain garter snake
there, which tends to fill the otherwise unoccupied aquatic ecologic niche.

The writer's observati(jns on garter snakes in that region were
made mainly at Ash Creek in northwestern Lassen County. There
they were actually abundant and 25 were seen during an afternoon and
morning spent hunting them, whereas four represents a maximum day's
catch at other localities. At Ash Creek all were found within five feet
of the water. One escaped by crawling under a boulder, but all others
made for the water when opportunity offered. Usually they swam on
the surface across the stream witliout diving. Others were taken under
similar conditions at Rush Creek a few miles away. Series from Eagle
Lake, Grasshopper Lake near Canby, and on the headwaters of the Pit
River presumably were found concentrated in the vicinity of water,
as those which contained food had eaten aquatic animals, either fishes
or leeches.

Elsewhere in the range of the mountain garter snake, individuals
were never found in such numbers, but possibly the difference was due
to more even distribution over varying terrain with little concentration
along water courses, rather than to any actual rarity.

Though it occurs on common ground with the moccasin garter
snake in the Upper Sonoran and Transition life zones of the Sierra
Nevada, the present form occurs also at higher elevations above the
altitudinal range of the moccasin, hence the name "mountain garter
snake". The difference in altitudinal range is correlated with differing
ecologic preferences, but not necessarily with physiological differences
in ability to resist low temperatures. In mountain streams of the high
Sierra Nevada, water temperatures are so low that a snake of aquatic
habits would be constantly chilled to a state of sluggishness or inac-
tivity and would be badly handicapped in its attempts to capture prey
or escape from enemies. Thus, habitat conditions in the high Sierra
are unfavorable to aquatic forms such as the moccasin garter snake,
but the more terrestrial habits of the mountain garter snake permit it
to take immediate advantage of rising air temperatures whenever they
become sufficiently high for it to forage.

The mountain garter snake appears to be versatile, to a certain
degree, in its feeding habits in adaptation to local conditions, but it
feeds mainly on terrestrial kinds of animals, some of relatively large
size in proportion to the size of the snake. Fish may be eaten occa-
sionally, but obviously this form is not adapted to foraging in swift
w-ater. Most of the fish eaten are caught in shallow water, frequently
in drying pools of stream beds. Trout are sometimes eaten, but such
predation is most apt to occur where they are concentrated in drying
pools and cannot be considered serious. The mountain garter snake is
mainly neutral or beneficial in the economic bearing of its feeding
habits. Fish form only a small portion of its food; fish predation is
mainly limited to a small part of the geographic range, and involves
mostly or entirely species of no importance to man as game or food.

26 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

Coast Garter Snake (TJiamnopliis ordinoidcs atratus)

Diagnostic Characters

Size mediUni to small (22 to 31 inches in adnlts) ; dorsal stripe
bright yellow, 1^ to 3 scale rows wide, contrasting with dark ground
color ; back between dorsal and lateral stripes dark gray or broA^ni ;
lateral stripes dull yellow, or red, or entirely absent; chin yellow; iris
uniformly greenish gray in southern part of range, dark bro^vn with
narrow yellow rim encircling pupil in snakes from farther north ; scale
rows on body 21 or 19 (one of these counts' obtainable anywhere on
anterior tAvo-thirds of bod}') ; supralabials usually 8 on each side, occa-
sionally reduced to 7 ; A^entral surface often spotted with red.

Distribution

Coast counties of California, from northern Humboldt County
south to the Santa Ynez River, Santa Barbara County. Mainly con-
fined to the fog belt on seaward side of the immediate coast ranges.
Intergrades to the eastward, in eastern Humboldt County, with the
mountain garter snake by increase in number of ventral scales, and by
disappearance of red from the coloration. In northwestern Humboldt
County and Del Norte County intergrades with the red-striped garter
snake through reduction in numbers of ventral scales and in numbers of
scale rows and labial scales, reduction in size, and through change in
color of dorsal stripe.

Habits

Van Denburgh wrote (1923, p. 823) that this snake is usually
found near water but seldom in it. Grinnell and Camp (1917, p. 180)
defined the habitat of ThamnopMs ordinoides ordinoides (referring
chiefly to the present form) as "dense vegetation along streams and
marshy ground". Habitat data compiled by the writer from his own
observations and from field notes of collectors for the Museum of Ver-
tebrate Zoology fully bear out these statements. Specific conditions
under which individuals were found are summarized in the following
paragraphs :

Dry, brushy ridge in manzanita, huckleberry, tan oak, and coyote
brush association (W. P. Taylor, MS, Gualala, Mendocino County,
July 4, 1913) ; Cennothus brush area burned over six years before
(C. L. Camp, MS, near Cazadero, Sonoma County, June 21, 1913) ;
among tules (H. G. White, MS, near Morro, San Luis Obispo County) ;
10 feet from edge of Wildcat Canyon Dam (R. E. Smith, Contra Costa
Countj^ October 18, 1935). During the spring of 1936 my zoology
students recorded these snakes found in the vicinity of Berkeley, Ala-
meda County, in the following situations: moist swale on grassy hill-
side about 100 3'ards from creek ; in grass ; in grass 40 feet from water
at side of reservoir ; near stream ; south-facing slope on wet ground ; in
hole on open grassy hillside; on slope in meadow; in grass on south-
facing slope ; in nearly dry creek ; south-facing grassy slope ; a few feet
from stream.

At Prairie Creek, Humboldt County, in July, about 16 were seen
at the edges of grassy fields ; they attempted to escape by darting over

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 27

the undercut bank of the creek and hiding among the tangled roots
and bushes there, but none entered the water.

At Bluff Creek near Weitchpec, Humboldt County, in July, two
found were on the road 50 and 100 feet from the stream. At the east
fork of Willow Creek, in July, those collected were found : dead on
road ; on steep hillside 100 feet from creek ; in alder bush 10 feet from
creek ; swimming on surface in shallow water at edge of creek ; among
mossy rocks in heavily shaded spot five feet from creek. This was in
humid Transition Life Zone with a plant association of Douglas fir,
tan oak, broadleaf maple, madrone, Port Orford cedar, dogwood and
blackberry. At Redwood Creek, Humboldt County, in July, one was
found crawling among rocks and brush five feet from the edge of the
water. One found at Bull Creek, Humboldt County, in July, was on
the road 150 feet from the stream in second growth redwood associa-
tion. Near Elk Creek, Mendocino County, in June, on a gently slop-
ing, south-facing hillside with dense cover of tall dry grass, thistles
and blackberry vines, five were found. At Lake Merced, San Fran-
cisco, in September, 24 were found on damp, weedy ground, all within
75 feet of the lake, but none was nearer than 10 feet to the edge of the
water. In Marin Count}' during March, one found near San Geronimo
was dead on the highway about 200 feet from the nearest water, a small
creek; near Ross two were found on a steep hillside 100 yards from
water, in live oak, madrone and redwood association. In Strawberry
Canyon, Alameda County, one was found 30 feet from the dry creek
bed, in dense chaparral ; one found in April was 50 feet from the creek
in dense chaparral on the north-facing slope, another was 200 yards
from the canyon bottom in a ravine 10 feet from a slight trickle of
water. In Mendocino County one found in June, 75 feet from the
Russian River, was crossing a road ; at Rattlesnake Creek southeast of
Cummings, in June, one was found beneath alders 15 feet from the
stream, another was dead on the road at least 50 feet from the creek;
of two found at Seward Creek in August, one crawled into a tangle of
roots overhanging the water in escaping, another darted down the bank,
dove, and hid under water among dead leaves on the bottom. Of three
taken in July at Cobbs, Van Duzen River, Humboldt County, one was
beneath alders 10 feet from a seepage pool and about 100 feet from the
river; another was five feet from the river on a steep bank heavily
shaded by alders; the third was 50 feet from the river on damp mossy
ground beneath hazel and alders.

It is evident from habitat and feeding data that the coast garter
snake is mainly terrestrial in its habits, that small terrestrial animals,
mainly slugs, salamanders, worms and lizards, comprise most of its
food. The kinds of animals preyed upon are small, secretive and inac-
tive forms which occur in damp places. The rarity of occasions on
which this snake has been found in the water and the frequency with
which it has been found distances from the water show that it is pri-
marily a meadow and thicket-inhabiting subspecies. Fish predation
is therefore exceptional. This snake has not been known to prey upon
trout or other game fishes, and is largely neutral or beneficial as regards
the economic bearing of its feeding habits.

5— 97S58

28 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

Red-striped Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides ordinoides)

Diagnostic Characters

Size small (length 13 to 30 inches in adults) ; dorsal stripe various
shades of red, yellow or orange, usual]}' well developed, sometimes faint
or nearly absent ; lateral stripe pale, yellowish gray, or occasionally
absent ; dorsolateral areas between dorsal and lateral stripes chestnut or
grayish brown, occasionally almost black ; ventral plates of body fewer
than 355. of tail fewer than 85 pairs; ventral surface often spotted with
bright red ; supralabials 7, 7 ; infralabials usually 8 or 9 on each side ;
head narrow, not distinct from neck, with relatively small eyes; scale
rows on body 19 (on anterior part of body only) or 17.

Distribution

In California confined to Del Norte County, extreme northern
Humboldt County, and western Siskiyou County; occurs northward
between Cascade Range and seacoast through Oregon, "Washington, and
British Columbia. Intergrades with the coast garter snake in the
region around the mouth of the Klamath River, but does not intergrade
with any other form. Throughout the California portion of its range
occasional individuals occur which closely resemble the coast garter
snake in their characters.

The southern population, to which the California representatives
of this subspecies belong, is characterized by a reddish stripe and
brownish ground color in the coastal region. Farther from the coast
these snakes are less common, and tend to have a darker ground color
and a more yellowish dorsal stripe.

Habits

Only three of the California specimens examined contained food —
one slug each in two from Wilson Creek and Gasquet, and one earth-
worm in one from Crescent City. These items seem to be typical of
the food items taken in other parts of the range : a total of 48 snakes
contained food or were seen feeding, and the prey comprised 67 indi-
vidual animals, all of terrestrial kinds, and, with one exception, forms
of inactive and secretive habits. Thirtj'-two snakes had eaten slugs
(average length f inch), ten had eaten earthworms, ten had eaten
plethodont salamanders (riethodon elongatus, P. dunni, Aneides fer-
reus), one had eaten a red-legged frog.

Field notes concerning the behavior and habitat of this snake were
taken for more than 100 individuals at 20 different localities, mostly
in southwestern Oregon. Many were found in dense coastal forests
of tan oak and Douglas fir, but they were found in greater numbers in
and around clearings, meadows and glades.

During the latter part of May, 1935, 80 were seen in the region
around the mouth of Lobster Creek, Curry County, Oregon. Nearly
all were on "benches" above the level of the creek and at the edge of
the forest. No undisturbed individuals were seen in the water at this
locality or elsewhere. They did not frequent open beaches and bare
rocks along the edge of the water, though Oregon gray garter snakes,
occurring in this same locality, were largeh' confined to this streamside
habitat.

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA GARTER SNAKES 29

On several occasions, at places where the grass and brush grew up
to the edge of the water, red-striped garter snakes were found there,
affording opportunity to compare their escape reactions with those of
the gray garter snake. Red-striped garter snakes invariably attempted
to hide beneath objects on the ground. Individuals experimentally
thrown into the stream swam briskly for the nearest point on shore,
holding their heads high out of the water, and landed despite the
observer's presence. They could liardly be driven back into the water,
but usually drew back into a defensive position if retreat to shelter
on the bank was cut off.

These observations indicate that aquatic tendencies common to
most garter snakes are remarkably lacking in the present form, which
is specialized for a terrestrial life amid dense vegetation.

It is obvious that the red-striped garter snake is not an enemy of
fish, since it rarely enters the water voluntarily. In the economic bear-
ing of its feeding habits it is almost totally beneficial, as it feeds mainly
on foliage-destroying slugs. Snakes watched in the process of forag-
ing kept their heads close to the ground and moved slowly along
extremely circuitous routes, tending to follow depressions below the
general level of the ground surface. Sometimes during the frequent
pauses they would make lateral peering movements, but they seemed to
be guided largely by tactile sense, perhaps also by smell. They were
especially prone to investigate niches and crannies and to move beneath
logs and other objects on the ground. Evidently the secretive animals
which these snakes prey upon are found while they are inactive and
in hiding, during the daytime. The snakes are strictly diurnal, and
usually are not active on foggy days.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In the foregoing account, the habits of ten different kinds of Cali-
fornia garter snakes have been separately discussed. For each kind
numerous specific instances of feeding, of field behavior, and of habitat
preferences have been recorded. From these data, based upon pub-
lished literature, unpublished field notes of trained observers, and the
personal observations of the writer, it has been demonstrated that the
several kinds of garter snakes all differ from each other in their habits.
Some are exclusively terrestrial in their foraging, and others are almost
entirely aquatic and hence use a different sort of food. Some may con-
flict with man 's interest by preying upon trout and other fishes valued
as food or game. Other kinds of snakes, though closely related to these
potentially harmful kinds, are almost entirely beneficial in their eco-
nomic bearing, since they prey upon animals which are detrimental to
man's interest — vegetation-destroying slugs. Still others have no
obvious economic importance, as they prey upon animals which are
largely neutral and have neither direct value to man nor hai-mful
habits — various small lizards, frogs, salamanders, worms and leeches.

The stream-inhabiting and fish-eating forms have in common cer-
tain characteristics which set them off from those forms typical of
marsh, meadow or brushland habitats, and which seldom or never prey
on fish. None of the typically stream-inhabiting forms has a bright
yellow dorsal stripe, but the stripe may be narrow and faint or alto-

30 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

getlier absent. In the southern California garter snake there is no
dorsal stripe ; in the moccasin garter snake, the dorsal stripe is faint
and usualh^ confined to the anterior part of the body; in the Oregon
gray garter snake, the dorsal stripe is narrow and dull, often discon-
tinuous on the anterior part of the body; in the wandering garter
snake, the dorsal stripe is likewise faint and occasionally broken,
though it extends the entire length of the body; in the giant garter
snake the dorsal stripe is faint and may be nearly absent. These five
comprise the aquatic members of the genus in California and are
responsible for nearly all garter snake predation on fish in this State.
It seems probable that their dull coloration may be adaptive in serving
to conceal them in their relatively exposed streamside habitat, as they
habitually bask on bare rocks at the edge of the water.

Brightly colored stripes are characteristic of the kinds which are
primarily terrestrial in their habits. In the red-striped garter snake
the dorsal stripe is red, orange or yellow, and highly conspicuous; in
the coast garter snake and mountain garter snake, it is bright yellow,
contrasting sharply with the dark ground color. The common garter
snake also has a yellow dorsal stripe which is especiallj^ bright and
sharply defined. All these snakes live mainly in grass or brush.
Under such habitat conditions, the conspicuous longitudinal markings
may have protective value in concealing motion. To the observer
watching one in motion and partially concealed by screening vegetation,
the section of the snake's body in sight appears to shrink rapidly and
disappear before his eyes, but because of the longitudinal continuity
of color there is no impression of motion. These brightly striped
snakes are mainly beneficial in their feeding habits, since they eat
slugs, earthworms, plethodont salamanders, lizards, mice, and other
terrestrial animals, but seldom take fish or other aquatic prey, even
when such food sources are abundant.

FEEDING HABITS OF CALIFORNIA OARTER SNAKES

31

TABLE 1

Relative frequency of predation on various types of prey by different kinds of
garter snakes. For each kind of sn=)ke, percentages of total recorded food
items made up by each kind of prey are shown. (Records based mainly
on observations of the writer, but also upon publications and field notes
of various competent observers. All available records are included, some
of them for snakes taken outside of California.)

Prey of snakes

O

era

n
-1

a 3

5*

ffq

-1

si'

-t

re £.

era
ta

-t

ft)
"-J

Sn

; ^

. a

1 sa'

5'

so
-I

11

-1

1

s

CD 2

It

S.
1

rsius — -

Snail

1.4

18.0

28.6

83.0

63.0

8 7

Earthworm

Terrestrial salamander

23.6

8.1

1.9

3.0
1.0
5.0

16.8
8.9
8.9

.5
1.5

24.0

12.0

Frog (Rana)

Toad (Bufo,Scaphiopus)
Tree toad

6.9
30.5
20 8

1.7
5 0

4.0

3.9 ..

1.0

.2

9.0
1.0

1.9
20.7

1^ S

f?

Lizard . .

3.0 ..

3.0 ..

1.0 ..

6.0 -

.5 ..

V

Snake

H

Mouse . ..

6.5 ..

3.0

Brush rabbit

Shrew

1.0
1.0

Bird.

3.2

3.0 ..

'Leech

Tadpole

Lamprey .

4.0
10.0

13 5
17.7

20 0

8 9
1.0

4.0
12.0 ..

53.2

62.0

66.1

CJ

Trout

9.7
1.3
15.6 ..

23.0
1.0

10
11.8

§•1

<

Minnow, sucker

Sculpin .

1.4

1.0
1.0
7.6 ..

20 0
40 0

.5 ..
1.0 ..

Unidentified fish

Fish ecg mass

1.4

10.4
2.0 ..
3.9

2.0
'"2"0'

7.5 _.
1.9 --

Aouatic salamander

5.0 ..

Number of snakes

48

69

20

96

44

27

49

59

48

Total items recorded...

72

185

25

139

133

53

101

186

67

REFERENCES

Brooking, W. .T.

1934. Some reptiles and amphibians from Malheur County in eastern Oregon.
Copeia, 1934, no. 2, pp. 93-95.

Compton, L. V.

1933. A garter snake attempting to eat an alligator lizard. Copeia, 1933, no. 4,
p. 225.

Dire. L. R.

lOKi. Distribution of the land vei'tebrates of southeastern Washington. Cali-
fornia University. Publications in zoology, vol. 16, pp. 293-348, pis. 24-26.

Fitch, H. S.

1940. A biogcographical study of the ordinoidcs artenkrois of garter snakes
(genus Tlianinophis). California University. Publications in zoology
vol. 44, pp. 1-150, pis. 1-7, 21 figs.

Grinnell, Joseph

1908. The biota of tht^ San Bernardino Mountains. California University. Pub-
lications in zoology, vol. 5, pp. 1-170, 24 pis.

32 CALIPORNIA FISH AND GAME

Grinnell, Joseph, and Camp, C. L.

1917. A distributional list of the amphibians and reptiles of California. Cali-

fornia University. Publications in zoology, vol. 17, pp. 127-208, 14 figs.

Grinnell, Joseph; Dixon, J.; and Linsdale, J. M.

1930. Vertebrate natural history of a section of northern California through the

Lassen Peak region. California University. Publications in zoology,
vol. 35, 594 pp., 181 figs.

Grinnell, Joseph, and Grinnell, H. W.

1907. Reptiles of Los Angeles County, California. Throop Polytechnic Insti-
tute. Bulletin, sci. ser. no. 1, pp. 1-64, 23 figs.

Klauber, L. M.

1924. Notes on the distribution of snakes in San Diego County, California.
Zoological Society of San Diego. Bulletin, no. 1, pp. 1-23, 1 map. .j figs.

1931. A statistical survey of the snakes of the southern border of California.

Zoological Society of San Diego. Bulletin, no. 8, pp. 1-93.
1939. Studies of reptile life in the arid southwest. Zoological Society of San
Diego, no. 14, pp. 1-100.

Richardson, C. H.

1915. Reptiles of northwestern Nevada and adjacent territory. U. S. National
Museum. Proceedings, vol. 48, pp. 403-435.

Ruthven, A. G., and Gaige, H. T.

1915. Tlie reptiles and amphibians collected in northeastern Nevada by the
Walker-Newcomb expedition of the University of Michigan. Michigan
University. Museum of Zoology. Occasional Papers, no. 8, pp. 1-33,
5 pis.

Stephens, F.

1921. An annotated list of the amphibians and reptiles of San Diego County,
California. San Diego Society of Natural History. Transactions, vol.
3, pp. 57-69.

Taylor, W. P.

1912. Field notes on amphibians, reptiles, and birds of northern Humboldt
County, Nevada, with a discussion of some faunal features of the region.
California University. Publications in Zoology, vol. 7, pp. 319-346,
pis. 7-12.

Van Denburgh, J.

1923. The reptiles of western North America. California Academy of Sciences.
Occasional Papers, no. 10, pp. 1-1028.

Van Denburgh, J., and Slevin. J. R.

1918. The garter snakes of western North America. California Academy of

Sciences. Proceedings, ser. 4, vol. 8, pp. 181-270, pis. 7-17.

VALLEY QUAIL CENSUS METHODS AND

POPULATIONS AT THE SAN JOAQUIN

EXPERIMENTAL RANGE '

By Ben Gladinq
United States Forest Service

One necessary prerequisite to the management of any game species
is a knowledge of the population and of any trends it may exhibit
toward change. Variations in populations or trends therein are of
greatest significance but often are not pronounced enough to be noticed
in general observation. Indications are that the numbers of California
valley quail {LopJiortyx calif or nica) fluctuate considerably, but lack
of data has made it obvious that some inventory technique is essential.

A method has been developed, evolving from other forms of sur-
veys, for the annual census of valley quail on the San Joaquin Experi-
mental range in Madera County, California, which appears suitable for
this and other similar cover types. The area is located in the rolling
foothills of the western Sierra Nevada. The open vegetation type is,
characterized by individual blue oaks or digger pines and small clumps
of Ceanothus. Topography and cover allow easy travel by horse over
the entire Range. (See Fig. 24.)

Plant and animal associations have been described by Talbot, Bis-
well and Hormay (1939) and by Glading (1938). Many California
sportsmen consider such areas as ideal for quail hunting.

During February, 1935, members of the local staff, assisted by
members of the Madera County Fish and Game Protective Association,
counted the birds on sample strips of the Range. According to F. G.
Renner, who took notes for the census, 12 men participated. The final
figure arrived at was about 1,600 quail (one bird per 2.2 acres or 0.44:
birds per acre), although estimates by various members of the party
disagreed as to the accuracy of this figure. One observer estimated
2,500 to 3,000 birds on tiie Range, while another estimated 4,000.

In February, 1936, the resident staff sought to obtain a more
accurate figure for the quail population of the Range as a whole, and
with the suggestion of J. W. Nelson they developed the "horseback"

1 A branch of the California Forest and Range Experiment Station maintained
by the Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, at Berkeley, California, in
cooperation with the University of California.

The quail study is under the guidance of a. committee composed of Tracy I.
Storer, chairman, and J. T. Bmlen, Jr., of the University of California College of
Agriculture ; E. E. Horn and H. S. Fitch of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service ;
Gordon H. True, Jr., of the California Division of Fish and Game ; E. I. Kotok,
M. W. Talbot, H. H. Biswell, and .1. W. Nelson of the California Forest and Range
Experiment Station, U. S. Forest Service ; and F. P. Cronemiller and Ivan Sack of
Region 5, U. S. Forest Service. Messrs. Storer, Horn and Cronemiller form a special
technical advisory committee. Funds for the project are supplied by Region 5,
U. S. Forest Service. The writer has been engaged by the Committee as a resident
investigator at the San Joaquin Experimental Range. Additional help in various
projects was obtained through the use of U. S. Forest Service Junior Assistants to
Technicians and Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees for manual labor. Studies
began in December. 1936, and arc still in progress.

Manuscript submitted for publication, December, 1940.

(33)

34

CALIFORXIA FISn AND GAME

Fig. 2 4. rorlion of the- San Joaquin Experimental Range, illustrating typical topog-
raphy and cover of the area. Three horseback counters are shown to illustrate
the method described in the text.

method. Tliis has proved so effective that it is now employed whenever
detailed counts over the entire Range or large portions of it are desired.

In this method, three men, mounted on horseback, ride in parallel
courses slightly more than 200 feet apart, making 24 man-strips per
lateral mile; each man watches and counts the quail seen on a strip
only slightly more than 100 feet on each side of him. If vision is
obscured by rocks or heavy brush, the riders "zig-zag" slightly in
order to observe all possible game coverts. When the riders come to the
end of their strips they pivot about on the outside man, so that he may
guide them back accurately on a course parallel to and at the correct
distance from the one he has just covered. Thus, if riders 1, 2 and 3
started out at the southwest corner of a large area, they would first
ride in an easterly direction with No. 1 on the south and No. 3 at the
north. Upon arriving at the east boundary, they wheel about No. 3
and he guides them on the return trip to the west boundary. The order
would then be No. 3 at the south and No. 1 at the north. This pro-
cedure is repeated until the census area has been completely covered.
Over some areas, because of irregularities in topography and bound-
aries, it may be necessary to depart slightly from the strictly parallel
strips, but in any event an effort is made to cover all of the country
within the census area. For satisfactory results, it is imperative that
at least one and preferably all of the riders be thoroughly acquainted
with the local terrain.

The center man (No. 2) acts as recorder. The number of birds in
each covey and the exact location of the covey are entered on a topo-
graphic map which he carries. As the other riders see and count quail,
they immediately indicate the number and location to the recorder.
In many cases it is possible for two or all three riders to count a covey,

VALLEY QUAIL CENSUS METHODS

35

thus providing a more accurate result. Disagreements between observ-
ers as to the number of quail seen in a particular group are settled by-
accepting tlie count of the man best able to see the birds in question.

To avoid duplication of coveys flushing or running from a strip
Avhich is being counted to one not yet censused, the recorder indicates
the direction of movement of such birds by an arrow on the map, and
discounts any report of a similar group of birds at that site on the
return trip. Whore possible, an extra observer or two rides behind the
counters to watch for birds that may flusli onto the next strip. If the
outside rider (next to the uncensused area) keeps slightly ahead of
the other two and endeavors to flush new coveys back toward the other
counters, the instances of birds crossing into uncounted territory are
fewer.

"While three counters have been found to be the most practical
number to employ on a census in rolling country such as occurs at the
Range, either two or four riders have been used in some cases. Four
riders, while able to cover up to 1,000 acres a day. add somewhat to the
difficulties of recording and keeping alignment. Two riders can census
about 500 acres a day, whereas the optimum number of three can count
the birds on 750 acres during an eight-hour day.

Best results are obtained when the birds are grouped in definite
coveys. At the Range this means from late September through early
March. Counts are unsatisfactory on days which are very hot or
windy, or when it is raining. If the time of the year and weather con-
ditions are right, this method is believed to be about 90 per cent accu-

TABLE 1

Summary of the Annual Censuses of Valley Quail on the San Joaquin
Experimental Range, 1935 to 1940

Number

Number

Birds

Birds

Area

Date

Acres

of
Quail

of
Coveys

per
Covey

per
Acre

"Original
Range"

1935 Feb. 27

3,600

"1,600

k>0 44

1936, Feb. 27...

Mar. 4

3,600

1,637

68

24.0

0 45

1937, Feb. 24 :

Mar. 2

3,600

2,123

99

21 4

0 59

1938, Mar. 9

3,600

1,545

86

17.9

0.43

Mar. 17

1939, Mar. 13

3,412

1,293

103

12.5

0 38

Mar. 17

1940,Mar. 6

3,412

873

90

9.7

0 26

Mar. 10

"New

1938, Mar. 18

1,078
1,248

424
586

36
52

11.7
11 2

0 39

Purchase
Area-

Mar. 22
1939, Mar. 18

0 47

Mar. 21

1940, Mar. 11

1,248

481

43

11.2

0 45

Mar. 12

• Estimated.

*> Sample strip count covering only a fraction of the range was employed in 1935.

36

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

rate for the Range as a whole. Repeated checks on small areas have
shoAVTi that the "horseback" method gives an accurate, usable count,
and at the same time makes it possible to cover a relatively large area
with a minimum of personnel.

This method can only be employed satisfactorily where the cover
is not too dense ; the general character of the topography and cover at
the San Joaquin Experimental Range where it has been used is shown
in figure 24. The horseback census is not applicable to areas of hea\'y
brush or uniform, tall grass. It is particularly adapted to use with
valley quail, because these birds have the habit of flushing or running
when approached as close as 25 or 30 yards by a man on horseback.
Use of a pointing dog for counting valley quail has been tried on sev-
eral occasions over small areas, but without success. The "pointing
dog" method is successful on other species of upland game which tend
to "freeze," such as pheasants and bobwhite (Wight, 1930; Bennett
and Hendrickson, 1938).

The presence of a Cooper hawk in the vicinity of a covey will
cause the quail to "freeze" and make it necessary to ride much closer
to birds so frightened before they will flush. Concentrations of forag-
ing Cooper hawks over a census area will result in observers missing
many such "frozen" coveys.

Five annual counts have been made by the "horseback" method.
The results of all censuses are summarized in table 1.- Figure 26 illus-
trates the distribution of covevs over the Range in 1939.

- The services of a WPA employee in assisting in some of these counts is hereby
acknowledged.

^ 5

<

u
a.

I/)

Q
CD

1

\
\

• •
••
••

• •

• •

\
\
\
\

• •

• •

«•

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

\

* •

••

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

*

\
\

• •

• •

• •
••

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

\
\

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •
»•

• •
••

• •

• •

'35

'36

'37

'38

'39

'40

2.0

2.5
3.3

5.0
10.0

q:
m

a:

Q.

en
u
or
O
<

Fig. 25. Population trends in the valley quail at the San Joaquin Experimental
Range. The hatched bar represents the "sample strip" method counts made in
1935. The solid bars represent "horseback" method counts over the original
Range ; and the dotted bars are "horseback"' method counts over the new
purchase area.

VALLEY QUAIL CENSUS METHODS

37

Just prior to the 1938 census, 1,078 acres of additional land were
acquired to the north and west of the original Range. This area was
counted immediately after the census of tlie original Range. In 1939,
the construction of a new highway across the northwest corner of the
original Range caused an area of roughly 170 acres from the original
tract to be incorporated in the "new purchase," making the area to
the north and west of the new road total 1,248 acres for the 1939 and
194:0 counts.

In evaluating the census figures for the two areas, it should be
borne in mind that the new purchase area had been hunted over to and

Pig. 2(>. Map of San Joaquin ExperiniPntal Range, showing- location and
size of coveys of valley riuail in iNIarch, IfllJfl. Solid lines represent
pasture fences. The dotltcl lino indicates the old west and north
boundaries of the original Range. The area lying between Highway
41 and the dotted line was included in the original Range for the li^SS
census, but was with the new purchase area for the 1939 and 1940
counts.

38 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

including? the season of 1987, whereas no hunting was allowed on the
original Kange after the open season of 1933. Since the start of inten-
sive quail study in December, 1936, an average of 10 quail per month
has been removed from the Range for food analyses. In November
and December of 1938 and 1939, an experimental hunt was conducted
over a portion of the original Range. In 1938, 336 birds were taken
and there was a crippling loss of 57 birds. In 1939, 62 birds were
taken and the additional crippling loss was 26 birds. These are not
taken into account in the total census figures cited above for tlic cor-
resjionding following censuses taken in 1939 and 1940.

The data from the five annual horseback censuses suggest a progres-
sive decline in average size of covey; this may be due partly to the
relative dates of the various censuses. The five successive counts have
been made at increasingly later dates in the season as viewed climati-
cally and biologically with respect to the reproductive cycle of the
quail. The smaller sizes of coveys recorded are thought to be due
primarily to the process of covey dispersal which normally begins
about the middle of March at the Range. In 1939, however, nests were
discovered about two weeks earlier than in the previous two years. The
1940 nesting season was slightly earlier than that of 1939. These
earlier nesting dates combined with the early cessation of spring
rains in 1939, the mild winter of 1940, and the relatively advanced
stage of the vegetation of both years indicated that the censuses of
1939 and 1940, although taken at a comparable chronologic date to
that of 1938, were biologically later in the season as far as the mating
cycle of the quail was concerned.

The fluctuations in population which are exhibited in table 1 and
figure 25 are not of such magnitude as is shown by the ruffed grouse
in eastern states (Leopold and Ball, 1931). They do, however, indicate
that variations exist in the local valley quail population in successive
years. AVhether these changes signify any cyclic change in the local
quail can only be determined by a much longer record.

The census method herein described, if used according to the
precautions indicated, will serve in areas of suitable cover and topog-
raphy as a yardstick for evaluating populations of valley quail prior
to and during the applicati(m of management methods.

Literature Cited

Bennotf, L. J., and Henrlrickson, G. D.

198S. Censusins: onail in the early fall. Journal of Wildlife Management, vol. 2,
pp. 169-171.
Glading, Ben

1938. Studies on the nosting cycle of the California valley quail in 1937. Cali-

fornia Fi.sh and Came, vol. 24, pp. 318-340, illus.

Leopold, Aldo, and Ball, J. N.

1931. British and American grouse cycles. Canadian Field-Naturalist, vol. 45,
pp. 162-1G7.
Talbot, M. W., Biswell, H. H., and Hormay, A. L.

1939. Fluctuations in the annual vegetation of California. Ecology, vol. 20, pp.

394-402, illus.

Wight, H. M.

1930. Michigan's game dog. American Forests, vol. 36, pp. 620-623, p. 637.

''N. B. SCOFIELD": PROGRESS REPORT

FOR 1940^

By H. C. GoDsiL
California State Fisheries Laboratory
Division of Fish and Game

The function of the research staff of the Bureau of Marine Fish-
eries is twofold. Its first assignment is to determine the proper rate of
exploitation of our various marine fisheries. When this is known, it is
then necessary to follow the trend of each fishery in order to safeguard
its future. The latter task is to a large extent routine, whereas
the former necessitates a great deal of investigative work, much of
which must be done upon the fishing grounds. To facilitate the
investigative work, the N. B. Sco field was built in 1938 and for the
past two years this vessel has functioned as an integral and important
part of the Division's fisheries laboratory. Built and used exclusively
for this work she has, in the two years of operations, contributed
immensely to our knowledge of the fisheries by extending the range of
our investigations. In the past year, the N. B. Scofield traversed
17,648 miles, ranging from northera California to the Galapagos Islands
on the Equator.

To obtain the maximum benefit from our research vessel, it is
necessary to plan the work in close conjunction with the entire research
program. For this purpose the most urgent aspects of each investiga-
tion are listed and an annual program drafted with the time of the
N. B. Scofield allotted to the different fisheries or different areas in
proportion to their importance. Such a program was formulated for
the past year (1940), and it is a satisfaction to report that this pro-
gram was successfully followed to completion. Each projected piece
of work was accomplished. Tlio credit for this goes in large part to
the crew of the N. B. Scofield, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge our
continued indebtedness to Ca]itain Lars J. Weseth, Messrs. Ralph Dale,
Paul Richmond, Peder Stockland, Harry Rouch, Merile Stewart,
Robert MacDonald, Harry Peters, William Nyland, and to those per-
sons who substituted for short periods. Successful fulfillment of
the program could not have been accomplished without the whole-
hearted cooperation of the governments of the countries in whose
waters the vessel operated. We should like to express our appreciation
of the many courtesies shown us by representatives of the republics of
Mexico, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

1 Submitted for publication, February, 1941.

(39)

40 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

Tuna

In 1940 the X. B. Scofield made a protracted trip to the tuna fish-
ing grounds. Every important fishing area was visited and samples
of tuna obtained therefrom. The purpose of the trip was twofold:

(1) the essential refrigeration program was carried to completion, and

(2) a collection of both tuna and skipjack was made for the purpose of
a comparative study of the populations.

The results of the refrigeration ^^ ork emphasized the necessity for
prompt handling of fish after capture, confirming the findings of the
previous year. Furthermore, in a mimeographed report to the indus-
try, we were able to inform the fishermen that storage temperatures
should not exceed a maximum of 20° P. for the average length of the
present trips. Maintenance of this temperature will enable the fish-
ermen to deliver their loads in an acceptable condition, providing
prompt chilling is practiced. However, the quality of the fish could
be improved by lower temperatures, where these are practical. Other
experiments indicated some deleterious effects after prolonged storage
in brine and the advantages of air circulation in a dry, frozen load.
The results accomplished will enable us to plan the next phase of this
investigation.

All the material needed for comparison of the populations of tuna
on the different grounds was collected on this trip and the laboratory
work is now nearing completion. Whereas, it will require many weeks
of careful work before definite conclusions may be drawn concerning
the populations in the different grounds, we are able to state tenta-
tively at this time that there is but a single species of yellowfin tuna
in the entire eastern Pacific in so far as this has been investigated. This
in itself is an important contribution to our knowledge. In the case
of the skipjack, preliminary results indicate that the entire stock
in the northern Pacific thus far investigated represents a single species.
Our own material was compared directly with samples from Japanese
and Hawaiian waters.

At the Galapagos Islands a single specimen of a hitherto unde-
scribed species of tuna was taken. The existence of this species was
known from occasional reports from tuna fishermen, but this was the
first opportunity we have had to make an original examination. A
second specimen was obtained subsequently through the courtesy and
cooperation of a commercial fisherman, and these will be described in
a forthcoming publication. The occurrence, distribution and abun-
dance of this fish will be investigated as opportunity oflters.

Sardines

The census of young sardines was continued in 1940, with the N. B.
Scofield working from central California to the tip of Lower California.
This work was initiated in 1938 when young sardines were considered
of average abundance. The abundance in the fall of 1940 was esti-
mated as 22 per cent of 1938. In 1940 about one-half of the young
fish were found off the northern half of Lower California, one-fourth
in southern California waters and one-fourth in central California.

"n. b. scofield"

41

Fig. 27. Sardine fishing in Magdalena Bay, Ijower California. The power launch in
the foreground keeps the skiff out of the net as the men pull in the wings.
The light lampara nets are hauled from the skiff whereas the heavier purse
seine is fished from the N. B. Scofield itself. These nets are used for taking
sardines in the young fish survey and for tagging as well as for catching tuna
bait. Photograph by Merile Stewart.

Fig. 28. Left, lowering metal tow net at the start of a haul. Right, the net brealcs
the surface at the end of the haul. Photographs by Merile Stewart.

42

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

This annual census makes possible an estimate of the amount that each
year-class of sardines will contribute to the fishery one to three seasons
later.

In January and February, 1940, sardine eggs and larvae were
collected in the Gulf of California and maturing adult fish were taken.
This constituted an extension of tlie known spawning grounds for the
sardine. This material has contributed to the study of population
differences along the Pacific coast of North America.

Using the N. B. Scofield, 7,600 sardines were tagged in Mexican
waters during 1940. These taggings are a continuation of similar
work done in 1939, which has yielded returns in the southern California
fishery during the 1940-1941 sardine season. Sardine tagging in Mexi-
can waters supplements the general sardine program carried out in
California waters and greatly furthers the study of sardine migrations.

Mackerel

The mackerel investigation along the coast of Lower California
was carried out from the N. B. Scofield during 1940. Tow net hauls
for eggs and larvae Avere made along the west coast of the peninsula
and in the Gulf of California. Larvae were taken as far up the Gulf
as Pulpito Point, about 240 miles from the entrance. Samples of
adult mackerel were taken in the Gulf to determine if they are part
of the same population which is taken in California. More material
is needed before this point can be settled.

Fia. 29. Sparchine: a plankton haul for fish eg-gs and larvae aboard
the N. B. Scofield. Photograph by Merile Stewart.

"n. b. scofield" 43

Along the west coast of Lower California, a total of 4,664 mackerel
were tagged to aid in determining what part these fish play in the Cali-
fornia fisher.y. Over 40 of tliese tagged fish had been recovered in
southern California by March 1, 1941.

Flatfish

In 1940 an extensive survey of the stock of flatfish in northern
California was conducted. The N. B. Scofield worked from San Fran-
cisco to the Oregon line, sampling all the important commercial grounds.
This work revealed the age and size composition of the commercial
species along the coast line, and tlie results will enable us to determine
the condition of the fishery and to suggest any regulatory measures
needed. Scales were taken from sampled fish and will be used in
determining the relative age composition of the catch.

In addition, approximately 5,000 fish were tagged and liberated at
selected points along this coast line. In the case of the flatfish, the
tagging program has already yielded valuable results and the work
conducted this past season was designed to confirm and extend these
findings.

Attempts were made in the course of this trip to explore grounds
in deeper offshore waters. These were not very successful, but the
experience gained will be used in future work.

Finally, in addition to these major problems, lesser ones were
tackled as opportunity offered. Throughout the year, collections of
local and Lower California fish were made and identified to aid in the
study of the distribution of larvae and of the commercially important
species. Water temperatures were taken regularly on all trips and
these are used in correlation Avith the seasonal runs of fish. All in all,
the N. B. Scofield contributed largely to a busy and productive year
and continued a record of which all are justly proud.

FIRST RECORD OF THE HYBRID FLOUNDER,
Inopsetta ischyra, FROM CALIFORNIA ^

By Earl Stannard Herald

Natural History Museum

Stanford University, California

A study of some of the California flatfishes in the Stanford Uni-
versity^ collections has recently brought to light a unique specimen
which upon comparison with the published descriptions and with a
specimen of Inopsetta ischyra from Puget Sound (Stanford 23738)
may undoubtedly be referred to that species. This individual, taken
off San Francisco about November 11, 1936, was discovered in the fish
market by G-. H. Clark of the California Division of Fish and Game,
and subsequently presented to the Museum (Stanford 34964).

Inopsetta ischyra was first described by Jordan and Gilbert (1880)
from four specimens taken in Puget Sound. From that date until 1927
no additional specimens were known. At that time Villadolid pub-
lished a paper in which he announced his rediscovery of the species, the
material consisting of three specimens which he had collected, two
from the Seattle fish markets and the third from Holmes Harbor, Puget
Sound. He also pointed out that the figure used to illustrate Inopsetta
in Jordan and Evermann's "Fishes of North and Middle America"
(p. 2641, fig. 927) was actually a figure of Lepidopsetta hilineata.
However, it remained for Norman (1934, p. 376) to suggest that
Inopsetta might be a hybrid, perhaps between the broad-fin sole (Lepi-
dopsetta hilineata) and the starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus).

Schultz and Smith (1936) finally settled the question as to the
status of /. ischyra after they had collected twelve specimens from the
vicinity of Puget Sound. By carefully comparing these specimens
with the other species in the Sound region, it was decided I. ischyra,
if a hybrid, must represent a cross between Platichthys stellatus and
Parophrys vetulus, the pointed-nosed sole.

If this hypothesis is correct, then 7. ischyra should also be found
at other localities where both parent species are present. Both species
are abundant in California; however, until this date, no specimens of
I. ischyra have been recorded from the State.

Schultz and Smith state that this hybrid flounder is well known to
the fishermen of the Sound who regard it as a hybrid between the
starry flounder and some other species. But in California waters, /.
ischyra is a rarity, for according to Clark only about four specimens
of this hybrid have ever been noticed in the San Francisco area by the
fish butciiers or by the fisheries research staff of the California Division
of Fish and Game.

As seen from the figure, I. ischyra has the pigmented areas in the
fins as does P. stellatus, but it lacks the star-shaped tubercles of this

1 Submitted for publication, December, 1940.

(44)

HYBRID FLOUNDER, Inopsctta ischyra

45

latter species and has instead ctenoid scales fairly evenly distributed
over the body. Usually the pigmented areas of the fins are much
lighter than is typical of P. steUatus.

From the illustrations it will be noted that a part of the lateral
line system is asynnnetric-al in that on the blind side (lower left illustra-
tion) there is a lateral line branch extending in an are ventro-caudad

46

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

from the angle of the opercle. This branch is not present on the eyed
side, nor is it present on either side of any specimen examined from a
large series of both P. vctnhis and P. stellatus. Dr. Schultz has very
kindly examined the specimens of Inopsetta in the U. S. National
Museum. He finds only one which has not been dissected on the blind
side; again, the auxiliary branch is not present on this individual. It
is probable that this structure on the San Francisco Inopsetta is an
anomalous condition.

In presenting measurements and counts of the specimen of 7.
ischyra from San Francisco, it was thought advisable to include com-
parisons with the parent species and with other known specimens of
ischyra. These three columns of data are taken from Schultz and
Smith (1936). Each column gives the range of variation, followed by
the mean value in parentheses; no series from which measurements and
counts were taken was composed of fewer than 11 specimens; measure-
ments are expressed as thousandths of the standard length.

TABLE 1

Comparison of Parophrys vetulus, Platichthys stellatus, and Inopsetta ischyra

Pacific Coast

Parophrys

vetulus

Puget Sound

Inopsetta

ischyra

San Francisco
Inopsetta
ischyra

Pacific Coast

Platichthys
stellatus

Dorsal Rays (last single)

Anal Rays (last single)

Pectoral Rays

Vertebrae (hypural excluded)

Gill-rakers (above angle)

Gill-rakers (below angle)

Scale Rows Crossing Lateral Line

Head Length

Snout Length

Greatest Depth of Body

Snout to Pelvic Fin Insertion

Least Depth of Caudal Peduncle

Lengt h of Caudal Peduncle .__

Bony Interorbital Width

Height of Arch of Lateral Line

Length Accessory Branch of Lateral Line

72-
54-
!!■
42.
4.

n

89-
267-

56.
353-
271-

77.

97-

5-

3-

146-

• 92 ( 80.96)

■ 70( 61.27)

■ 13( n.65)

■ 44( 43.21)

■ 6( 4.80)

■ 13( 11.80)
■103( 95.50)
•301(282.5 )
- 69( 00.60)
■399(379.2 )
■297(281.8 )

■ 97( 86.8 )
■124(107.7 )

■ 12( 8.6 )

■ 17( 11.0 )
■252(186.6 )

68- 77( 72.08)

50- 57( 53.08)

11- 13( 11.26)

38- 40( 39.18)

4- 6( 5.08)

9- 10 9.58)

76- 86( 82.40)

285-'317 294.7 )

52- 71( 58.9 )

447-505(466.7 )

283-328(294.4 )

89-108( 97.1 )

94-126(108.8 )

7- 12( 9.9 )

9- 23( 14.4 )

15-102( 61.5 )

70

54

11

39

6

11

85

289

53

497

294

97

91

10

22

82

10-

34-

3-

52- 65( 58.54)

38- 64( 42.18)

12( 11.05)

36( 35.31)

5( 3.95)

6- 8( 7.75)

58- 70( 62.26)

284-321(304.1 )

56- 73( 65.6 )

459-529(496.0 )

285-^61(307.4 )

87-109( 99.2 )

100-156(129.5 )

8- 15( 11.6 )

17- 40( 22.3 )

(Lacking arch)

Literature Cited

Jordan, D. S., and Gilbert, C. H.

1880. Description of two new species of flounders (Parophrys ischyrus and
Hippoglossoides elassodon) from Puget Sound. U. S. National Museum.
Proceedings, vol. 3, pp. 276-280.
Norman, J. R.

1934. A systematic monograph of the flatfishes (Heterosomata) . Vol. 1, Psetto-
didae, Bothidae, Pleuronectidae. London, British Museum, 459 pp.,
137 figs.

Schultz, L. P., and Smith, R. T.

1936. Is Inopsetta ischyra (Jordan and Gilbert), from Puget Sound, Washing-
ton, a hybrid flatfish? Copeia, 1936, no. 4, pp. 199-203.

Villadolid, D. V.

1927. The rediscovery of Inopsetta ischyra, a rare species of flounder. Carnegie
Museum. Annals, vol. 17, pp. 395-397, pi. 35.

Editorials and Notes

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO IN "CALIFORNIA FISH AND

GAME"

Highlig-hting the April, 1916, issue of "California Fish and
Game" was an article on the shad fishery of California by H. B.
Nidever. This article described the introduction of shad to California
waters and the remarkable success of the project. Within a few years
of the first plant, which was made in 1871, shad had become numerous
enough to support a commercial fishery. At first these fish commanded
a high price in the local markets but as the supply increased the price
and demand dropped. Nidever and the writers of several short notes
and editorials along the same lines called attention to the fine food
qualities of the shad and urged greater utilization of the resource which
was virtually going to waste. A number of excellent recipes for cook-
ing shad and full instructions on the removal of bones were given.
Much the same situation holds today and shad still constitutes a neg-
lected resource which is capable of providing a great deal of excellent
and inexpensive food. As in 1916 the world is today torn by war
and no source of food supply should be overlooked. There will be
efforts made in the name of "national defense" to relax restrictions on
the taking of our more popular fish which are already sadly depleted.
In the long run our national economy will be better served by retaining
present conservation measures for our over-fished species and by urging
greater utilization of less popular but equally wholesome fish such as
the shad.

By 1916 the grizzl^y bear was rather generally regarded to be
extinct in California but persistent rumors still told of grizzlies in
various parts of the State. One such rumor when run down proved
to be an exceptionally large black bear, as recounted by Joseph Dixon.
It was later shown (California Fish and Game, vol. 25, pp. 237-244),
that grizzlies did exist in California as late as 1922, and even now we
still hear rumors of grizzlies in the southern Sierra Nevada. Perhaps
the animal which adorns our State seal yet lives.

Barton Warren Evermann presented a second article on the dis-
tribution of elk from the San Joaquin Valley to various parts of the
State. In 1914 and 1915 a total of 146 elk was distributed, leaving
between 350 and 400 in the Kern County herd. Of the number moved,
25 died, but at least three fawns were born in 1915, so that about 124
were still alive in 1916.

A firsthand account of sea otter hunting in the 1880 's was contrib-
uted by Chase Littlejohn. This article gives a resume of the rise and
fall of the sea otter trade and describes the habits of these interesting
fur bearers.

A number of short notes on various subjects rounded out the
April, 1916, issue. To me, nothing is so fascinating as reading these
old notes on wildlife conditions with their wealth of interesting and
important information. They will always be valuable references. —
Richard S. Crokcr, Editor, California Fi<^h and Game.

(47)

48 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

RESULTS OF THE 1940 PISMO CLAM CENSUS

Staff members of the California State Fisheries Laboratory took
the annual census of Pismo clams (Tivela sttiltorum) at Pismo Beach
on November 27-29, 1940. This yearly count provides a measure of
the clam population, indicating- the size of the set of the previous
summer as well as the survival from year to year of the older age-
groups. It gives a measure of the number of clams of spawning age
and of legal size as well as information as to the probable picture for
the future.

The 1940 census showed first that the year's set was very small,
and further that one age-group (clams now five years old) makes up
slightly over one-third of the present population. This is the third
successive neglible set, which means that for the next several years
there will be very few clams reaching maturity, to say nothing of legal
size.

There have been but three good sets in recent vears — those of
1931, 1935 and 1937. The 1937 set has suffered a high mortality, and
the 1931 set is now represented only b}^ a few individuals in the closed
area. Meanwhile, the only numerous group — survivors of the 1935
set — is now reaching legal size and is being removed, particularly from
the open area. This means that while mature clams are momentarily
fairly abundant, it is onl}^ a matter of time before diggers will have
taken the bulk of them. The extent to which removal by diggers
already affects this group can be shown by these figures ; approximately
19 per cent of the original set survives in the closed area, but only 9
per cent remains in the area open to digging.

The actual number of clams found in 1940 was the smallest since
1928. In the intervening time, only two years (1934 and 1939)
showed a scarcity approaching the 1940 figure. Although the total
number of clams of all sizes dropped about 21 per cent from the pre-
ceding census, the actual number of mature clams on the entire beach
in 1940 was about the same as in 1939, due to a good survival in the
closed area. However, in the open area, the number decreased in 1940
because of the removal of the five-year-olds and the lack of replace-
ments by younger clams.

In the closed area, the total is up over the past two years, though
still only about half that of the best years, 1935 to 1937. Mature
clams make up 81.4 per cent of the total, while some 32 per cent of
the total are five-year-olds. However, even with the small number of
youn^ clams there, the picture is satisfactory, providing that poaching
is held to a minimum and if a good set occurs within a year or two.

In the open area, a definite decrease in numbers seems inevitable.
With the limited numbers of young clams now present, little in the
way of additions to the older and legal groups may be expected for
several years. The five-year group made up almost 35 per cent of the
total found, and as stated, is showing the effect of digging and will
soon be removed. The best we can hope for is a good set in 1941,
which will at least give some promise of relative abundance for the
future. — Phil M. Roedel, California State Fisheries Laboratory, Divi-
sion of Fish and Game, January li, 1941.

EDITORIALS AND NOTES 49

BLACK BRANT IN LOWER CALIFORNIA,
FEBRUARY, 1941

For the past eleven years, James Moffitt of the California Academy
of Sciences has conducted an annual census of the black brant (Branta
'bernicla nigricans) wintering in California. In 1935, 1938 and 1940,
circumstances permitted an additional count at San Quentin Bay,
Lower California, at about the time of the eorresponding California
censuses. The Bay is located about 180 miles south of San Diego.

The research vessel N. B. Scofield of the California Division of
Fish and Game spent several days in the vicinity of San Quentin
during February, 1941, while making routine fisheries investigations,
and it proved possible for the writer, assisted by J. G. Carlisle, Jr.,
and Paul Richmond, to survey the Bay on the morning of February 2.
In all, 1155 brant were counted, of which 230 were in the east arm and
925 in the west. "We could not visit the upper portion of the east arm,
but we were able to scan most of it with field glasses. Few birds of any
sort were to be seen; however, it seems probable that some brant were
there. Therefore, our total count of 1155 is a minimum. We had no
trouble with birds crossing back and forth between counted and
uncounted areas ; flights were, fortunately, made almost entirely in the
same direction. Hence we feel that the total obtained is reasonably
accurate for the area covered.

On February 3, 1941, we saw one flock of 16 birds near Sacramento
Reef, some forty miles below San Quentin, and another of about 100
brant, twenty miles farther south. No others were noted in the course
of the trip which extended into the Gulf of California. — Phil M. Roedel,
California State Fisheries Laboratory, Division of Fish and Game,
March 7, 1941.

eviews

California's Natural Wealth: A Conservation Guide for Secondary-
Schools

California State Department of Education. Bulletin, Vol. 9, No.
4, December, 1940, 124 pp., illus.

The need for conservation education in public schools is realized
by all educators and conservationists although there is some disagree-
ment as to how the subject can be best presented to the students.
Recently the trend has been toward integrating nature study and con-
servation with other subjects rather than to add specific courses. In
many States, active programs are under way in which conservation
policies and practices are made real to the pupils by means of including
information and work projects on natural resources in various courses.
The results of conservation education are well worth the effort as the
school children are the potential conservers or despoilers of our
resources.

California schools have included nature study and conservation
study in their curricula for years but now these subjects are being
enlarged and made more vital. The State Department of Education
has made a real step forward with its publication of the handbook
California's Natural Wealth. This bulletin, which was prepared under
the direction of the California Conservation Council, is intended for
the use of secondary school teachers and pupils. It commences with a
brief description of California's natural resources, which is followed
by a summary of the meaning and necessity for conservation. Subse-
quent chapters present the various natural resources of the State in
detail: water, soil, native flora, forests, wildlife, scenic areas, and min-
eral resources. Each chapter includes a comprehensive reading list.
The final chapter discusses conservation in the school curriculum. It
is recommended that conservation study should be made a part of reg-
ular courses on other subjects rather than be set up as something spe-
cial. Suggested courses in which conservation studies could be inte-
grated are : general science, biology, chemistry, physics, health and
safety, social science, literature, writing, public speaking, mathematics,
arts, and home economics. It is stressed that nature can not be
studied in the classroom, and field trips, experiments and audiovisual
aids are recommended.

The book is well written and should prove useful to teachers and
pupils alike. The descriptions of the natural wealth of the State are
uniformly good. A few more illustrations Avould have added to the
booklet. — Richard S. Croker, Editor, California Fish and Game.

(50)

REVIEWS 51

Fishing' the Surf

]iv Raymond K. Cainp. I'.oston, Little, Brown & Co., 1941. 223
pp., iliiis. $2.00.

Witli tlie i)ubli('ati()n of Fishing the Su7-f, another is added to the
rai)idly growing- list of excellent handbooks on ocean fishiii<i-. As the
title indicates this book treats primarily with surf fishinj?, which is per-
liaps the fastest growing- outdoor sporl in the country. The anllior has
fislied the surf since he was a boy and can wi'ite with MUthorit3\

The first chaptei-, dealing with surf signs, should be of ntmost
value to the novice. In it directions are given for choosing the best
part of a beach, and how to fish the reefs and holes. Following chap-
ters discuss fishing methods for stri])ed bass, weakfish, bluefish, chan-
nel bass, bonefish and other favorites of the alongshore fishermen. Con-
siderable attention is given to Pacific Coast surf fishing but the major
part of the book is devoted to the Atlantic Coast. In addition to
describing surf fishing methods, the author treats bay fishing and off-
shore boat fishing for the various game fish commonly known as
surf fish.

The final chapters offer advice on casting, selection of tackle and
home rod making.

In the opinion of the reviewer, Fish'nuj the Sio'f is a well balanced
and useful handbook. — Richard S. Croker, Editor, California Fish
and Game.

REPORTS

STATEMENT OF REVENUE

For the Period July 1, 1940, to December 31, 1940, of the 92d Fiscal Year

Revenue for Fish and Game Preservation Fund:
License Revenue:
1941 series —

Angling $166 00

Fish party boat permits 8 00

Game breeders 2 50

Total 1941series , $176 50

1940 series —

AngHng. $416,629 50

Hunting 419,995 50

Commercial hunting club 850 00

Commercial hunting club operator 305 00

Trapping 1,117 00

Fish packers and wholesale shell fish dealers 860 00

Deer tags 146,482 00

Fish tags 1,904 00

Game tags 429 99

Market fisherman 42,380 00

Less market fisherman, refund to ineligible licensee — 10 00

Fishing party boat permits 176 00

Fish breeders 50 00

Game breeders 137 50

Game management-- 170 00

Game management tags 146 35

Kelplicenses 20 00

Total 1940series.--- $1,031,642 84

1939 series (see previous statement) 15,571 50

Total licenses, 92d fiscal year $1,047,390 84

Other revenue —

Court fines $23,278 84

Deer meat permits 2,469 00

Fish packers 183,407 58

Kelp tax.-- 290 72

Lease of kelp beds 52 80

Miscellaneous revenue 2, 784 30

Salmon packers - 11,513 31

Total other revenue 223,796 55

Total revenue, 92d fiscal year $1,271,187 39

Prior year, 91st —

1937 series —534 50

1928series —3,626 68

Fish packers —260 92

Total prior year, 91st fiscal year — 3,922 10

Grand total revenue all years, Fish and Game Preservation Fund $1,267,265 29

( ^^ )

REPORTS

53

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURES
For the Period July 1, 1940, to December 31, 1940, of the Ninety-second Fiscal Year

Function

Administration:

Demolition of exposition exhibits. .
Education and public information.

Executive

Exhibits

Fish and game magazine

I.ihnirV--.

I'ropcrty inspection.
General office

Total Administration.

Patrol and Law Enforcement:

Cannery inspection

Executive.-

General office

Junior patrol

Land patrol

Marine natrol

M. V. Blueftn ;illey..

M.V. N. B. Sroficld gaWey..
Pollution patrol

Total Patrol and Law Enforcement.

Marine Fisheries:
Central Valley water project study-
Executive

Field supervision

Fish cannery auditing

General office

Research and statistics

Total Marine Fisheries.

Fish Conservation:

Biological survey

Executive

Field supervision

Fish food unallocated..

Fish planting

Fish rescue

General office

Pollution inspection

Statistical '..

Stream improvement

Structural maintenance

Alpine Hatchery

Arrowhead Lake Egg Collecting Station.

Basin Creek Hatchery

Bear Lake Egg Collecting Station

Benbow Dam Experimental Station

Big Creek Hatchery

Blue Lakes Eeg Collecting Station

Bogus Creek Egg Collecting Station

Brookdale Hatchery

Burney Creek Hatchery

Central Valleys Hatchery

Copco Effg Collecting Station

Experimental Hatchery

Fail Creek Hatchery

Feather River Hatchery

Fern Creek Hatchery.. _.

Fillmore Experimental Station.

Forest Home Hatchery...

Fort Seward Hatchery

Heenan Lake Egg Collecting Station

Hot Creek Hatchery

Huntincton Lake Hatchery

June Lake Egg Collecting Station

Kaweah Hatchery

Kern Hatchery

King Salmon Experimental Station

Kings River Hatchery

Kirman Lake Egg Collectine Station

Klamathon Egg Collecting Station

Lake Almanor Hatchery

Salaries

and

wages

$126 00
395 16
672 03

1,050 00
1,553 41
4,052 93

$7,849 53

$13,222 17
8,fi71 68
3,360 00
2,010 00

120,772 47
43,634 04

6,382 00

$198,052 36

$3,597 63
1,830 00
1,830 00

5,782 90
30,222 46

$43,262 99

$6,513 33
3,683 01
1,780 00

2,171 72
6,742 96
3,555 00
2,0f)0 66
1,180 00

1,528 55
1,422 75
3,240 32
2,440 64
160 00
790 00

361 28
2,465 80
3,558 38
1,506 78
559 35
490 00
2,867 53
2.520 00
1,000 01
1,298 71
2,254 52
2,114 81

3,340 96
880 32
160 00

2,365 81
752 33

2,734 85

393 04

1,068 78

3,454 20

Materials

and
supplies

$481 03
48 20
155 01

1,165 76
18 64
28 94

1,402 90

$3,390 48

$113 54

205 85

342 03

131 14

16,597 34

8,696 17

168 25

—308 49

1,092 89

$27,038 72

$518 15

25 53

135 18

201 24
2,665 86

$3,545 96

$1,287 73
126 08
206 69
0,674 26
1,012 57
978 93
460 54
184 89
275 16

159 87
646 36
818 09
206 78

5 67

27 29

31 92

14 00

334 85

214 76

257 48

7 21

465 66

963 22

160 00

316 05

1,524 08

172 60

85 17

1.664 36

99 31

460 78
157 50

18 58
428 97

25 86
157 92
379 26

Service

and
expense

$216 18

261 20

2,432 71

1,250 00

74 34

143 14

32,386 88

$36,764 45

$1,277 62

1,008 66

701 41

300 09

32,146 77

17,245 26

15 30

304 86

2.277 86

$55,457 83

$1,283 34
169 85
408 59

1.945 09
248 28

5,229 59

$9,284 74

$710 48
75/ 19
369 81

1.221 09
938 19

1.061 42

178 50

348 53

543 32

1 68

500 82
148 13

501 19
227 88

7 00
-35

18 50
356 33
176 10
764 53

85 00

30 25
132 69
277 13
516 62
318 61
748 62

88 33

Property

and
equipment

$263 68

85 01

$542 17

$8 00

170 83

450 78

23,213 54

13,851 72

98 30

$37,802 17

$43 70

865 95

$909 65

$298 90

621 74

10 48

822 74
18 23
14 20
57 54

8 17
3 59
8 59

7 90
9 97

98 35

63 97

3 69

496 62
244 34

520 14

273 68
24 20

331 32
74 01
72 48

216 07

40 40
5 05
15 16

Total

$823 21

968 24

3.259 75

1,250 00

1.165 76

1,227 99

1,725 49

38,126 19

$48,546 63

$14,613 33

0.984 19

4.673 27

2.802 01

192.730 12

83.427 19

183 55

—3 63

9.851 05

$318,351 08

$5,442 82
2,025 38
2,373 77
1,945 09
6,232 42

38,983 86

390 00

78 53

$57,003 34

$8,810 44

5,188 02

2,366 08

10,895 35

4.945 22

9,701 54

4,208 24

2,681 62

1,998 48

1 68

2,279 24

2.225 41

4,563 19

2.883 89

160 00

802 67

26 94

31 92

401 68
3.166 95
3.949 24
2.627 14

644 35

527 46

3.529 85

3.760 35

1,676 63

1,936 96

4.528 12

2,416 14

00 22

5.517 10

1.223 97

160 00

3,346 73

1.573

42

3.495 14

402 91
1,209

51

78

18
4.128 06

54

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURES
For the Period July 1, 1940, fo December 31, 1940, of the Ninety-second Fiscal Year— Continued

Function

Fish Conservation — Continued:

Lalce Eleanor Egg CollectinR Station

Little River Egg Collecting Station

Little Walker Lake Egg Collecting Station-
Mad River Egg Collecting Station

Madera Hatchery

Mt. Shasta Hatchery.--

Mt. Tallac Hatchery

Mt. Whitney Hatchery

Prairie Creek Hatchery

Rearing Reservoir

Rush Creek Egg Collecting Station -

San Lorenzo Egg Collecting Station

Scott Creek Egg Collecting Station

Sequoia Experimental Station

Shackleford Creek Egg Collecting Station. .

Shasta River Egg Collecting Station

Snow Mountain Egg Collecting Station

Tahoe Hatcherv

W'addel I Creek Station _-

Yosemite Hatchery

Yuba River Hatchery .-

Total Fish Conservation-
Engineering:

Engineering

Executive

Fish screens

General office

Total Engineering-

Game Conservation:

Duck rescue

Elk refuge

Executive

Game management

General office

Grey Lodge Refuge

Imperial Refuge

Los Banos Refuge

Predatory animal lion hunting

Predatory animal trapping - .

Rcf.ige posting

Research

Statistics

Suisun Refuge

Winter feeding and salting of game.

Total Game Conservation...

Game Farms:
Executive

Game bird distribution —

Los Serranos

Yountville

Game management

General office

Los Serranos boarding house.

Los Serranos Game Farm

Yountville boarding house

Yountville Game Farm

Total Game Farms.

Licenses:

Executive

General office.

License distribution. . .

Salaries

and

wages

$223 23

255 00

200 00

290 00

22,512 32

1,676 59

7,767 05

3,372 67

516 13

347 81

1,020 00
1,029 02

430 33
1,182 00
4,025 50

870 00
2,693 22
1,990 00

$123,847 27

$6,448 51

2,280 00

679 20

776 54

Total Licenses.

$10,184 25

$600 00
960 00
4,830 00
6,265 80
1,827 32
2,600 00
1,416 13
2,487 35
3,194 01
16,822 00

Materials

and
supplies

$3 56
1 35

104 10

126 89

7,228 83

1,342 01

1,335 92

459 24

320 81

14 32

26 97
272 06

139 14

1,069 60

84 87

649 12

66 43

$37,256 57

$603 42

223 39

244 52

14 82

3,948 39
1,067 05
2,038 73

$48,056 78

$1,920 00

960 00

5,053 87

500 00

551 93

6,094 46

356 72

6,724 30

$22,161 28

$1,920 00

780 00

7,417 85

$10,117 85

$1,086 15

$142 73

232 55

375 96

1,023 23

31 79
341 35

33 57

449 74

537 06

3,180 47

50 86
499 23

19 78
309 09

45 00

Service

and
expense

$394 96

1,509 26

171 14

1,735 74

528 86

209 01

102 77
544 49

50 00
6 90

40 14
529 06

32 63
249 00

93 52

$20,467 93

$1,762 17

391 92

58 60

33 82

$7,272 41

$42 77

201 99

1,048 12

277 19

6 93

1,895 62

107 08

2,644 70

$6,224 40

$71 79

6,54 71

1,632 96

$2,359 46

$2,246 51

$772 04

188 85

886 33

1,523 24

1,079 70

12 81

109 60

229 08

3,387 14

3,406 17

Property

and
equipment

$5 34

8 38
V,269'64

38 74

4 30

48 60

485 28

26 87

$4,404 25

$884 10

7 44

1,091 87
450 38
223 83

$13,361 04

$236 22

648 65

1,360 38

125 45

7 85

31 78

1,183 54

63 26

952 21

$4,609 34

$143 00

277 27

45,818 53

$46,238 SO

$891 54

$3 72

13 24
990 56
196 53

25 32

1,517 73
1,476 60
2,308 38

123 70
"m20

Total

$8 90

224 58

255 00

312 48

811 85

32,460 05

3,189 74

10,877 45

4,305 07

1,094 55

347 81

14 32

1,635 02

1,845 57

50 00

437 23

1,361 28

5,624 16

987 50

3,618 21

2,149 95

$185,976 02

$9,698 20

2,895 31

982 32

832 62

$6,838 98

519 41

10 75

$1,450 03

$131 68
120 92

$252 60

$14,408 45

$1,518 49
1,381 40
6,105 53
9,802 83
3,135 34
2,979 48
1,559 30
4,683 90
8,594 81

25,717 02

50 86

5,663 19

1,537 21

2,754 85

45 00

$75,529 21

$2,198 99

1,810 64

7,462 37

1,422 05

566 71

31 78

9,184 37

527 06

11,241 08

$34,445 05

$2,134 79

1,843 66

54,990 26

$58,968 71

REPORTS

55

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURES
For the Period July 1, 1940, to December 31, 1940, of ttie Ninety-second Fiscal Year— Continued

Function

Salaries

and

wages

Materials

and
supplies

Service

and
expense

Property

and
equipment

Total

Other Current Expenses:

Fish screens — all objects

$25,939 94

Stream improvements —

BenboH- fish ladder

$16S 00

$47 00

12 00

17 .50

27 50

1,017 12

215 00

Granlees fish ladder project-

$33 82

45 82

Mad River Fishway-.- ,..

72 00
319 20

89 50

Snow Mountain Egg Collecting Station

27 45
51 60

374 15

Miscellaneous projects

1,068 72

Total Stream Improvements

$559 20

$112 87

$1,121 12

$1,793 19

Total other current expenses. .

27,733 13

Total operating expenses, 92d fiscal year

$820,961 62

Less maintenance deductions

5,246 49

Net total (I2d fiscal year expenditures

$815 715 13

Prior year 91st fiscal year for support _

56,334 71

Total operating expenditures, 91st and 92d
fiscal years.

$872,049 84

Additions and Betterments:
Purchase of game refuges and public shooting
grounds and CLE

20,361 48
2,237 61

Prior year 91st fiscal year for purchase of game
refuges and public shooting grounds, etc..

Total Additions and Betterments, 91st and
92d fiscal years

$22,599 09

Special Item:
Game management — cooperation with Federal
Government . . .

$14,071 06

Contributions to Employees' Retirement Sys-
tem, 92d fiscal year. .

11,485 58

Total Expenditures, 91st and 92d fiscal years.

$920,205 57

Prior Biennium:

Prior year, yOth, for support, not closed. . .

—$472 03

Prior year, 89th for support not closed

20 65

Total, prior biennium. . . ..

—$451 38

Grand total, Fish and Game Preserva-
tion Fund _

$919,754 19

56

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

SEIZURES OF FISH AND GAME

October, November, December, 1940

Fish:

Abalones.grecii- 16

Abalones, red - 15

Barracuda - - 23

Bass -- 3

Bass, Black... -.. 7

Bass, Striped — 49

Carp - -- - 7

Catfish — - - 112

Clams, Pismo - -- ---- 693

Cockles - 750

Lobsters ■ 59 1

Lobster traps 13

Ovsters, pounds. 400

Salmon 423

Sunfish -..- -.-- 10

Game:

Coot 1

Curlew. - J 1

Deer.. 4

Deer hides - 2

Deer meat, pounds 2,894

Doves.... 189

Do witchers -- - — 3

Ducks 626

Ducks, mallard 20

Ducks, sprig — 61

Ducks, wood — - - 22

Geese. --- 56

Grebe 2

Lark... - - -- - 1

Mocking bird 1

Muskrats 6

Muskrat pelts 38

Pheasants 95

Pigeon 10

Phalaropes - 2

Quail, valley - 7

Quail, desert - 18

Rabbits -- 9

Sandhill crane 1

Sandpipers - 9

Swan -- -- 3

Tree squirrels '

Willets 4

Yellowlegs - 3

RErORTS

57

FISH CASES
October, November, December, 1940

Offense

Abaloncs: possession undersized, ovcrlimit

Anjiliiig: transferring license, no license, at night, fail to show license, closed

season, closed area

Barracuda: no license

Bass, striped: no license, undersized, at night, with nets

(^itfish: undersized, overlimit _

Clams: undersized Pismo, no license; cockles, no license

Commercial fishing: no license -

Crabs: closed season

Croaker, spotfin: no license

Explosives: use to take fish

Fail to keep catch records, receipts

Fishing from dam __

Fyke nets

Gill net with meshes over 15i inch in length

Lobsters: undersized, closed season

Oysters: take from beds without permission -

Pollution-

Purse seine net in District 118.5. - — _-

Salmon: gill net, overlimit, no license, spear, take with rifle

Spear within 300 ft. of stream, at Woodbridge Dam

Sunfish: no license - —

Trout; take from rearing ponds, overlimit, more than 1 rod and line

Totals.

Number
arrests

26

.'52
1

91
5

34

71
2
1
2
3
2
5
1

16
2

1.5

10
100

13
2
7

461

Fines
imposed

$S04 50

747 .50

10 00

1,()S2 .50

1,021 00

fl!)2 50

tJ.S5 00

85 00

5 00

100 00

50 00

200 00

190 00

75 00

2,850 00

1,0.50 00

2,240 00

90 00

20 00

105 00

$13,003 00

Jail

sentences

(days)

4
192H

445

187
57
256H

50
50

1241/^
40

10

1,4161^

GAME CASES
October, November, December, 1940

Offense

Number
arrests

Fines
imposed

Jail

sentences

(days)

Bear: closed season

Beaver: possession

Brant, black ---

Coots: shoot from motorboat, after 4 p.m

Curlew: closed season, no license .

Deer: possess spike buck, possess in refuge, kill female deer, closed season,
possess fawn, no license, fail to retain hide and horns, spotlighting, trans-
porting deer meat, no permit, venison, closed season.. -

Deer tags: fail to validate, no deer tags, not properly filled out, fail to have

countersigned, defacing deer tag..

Doves: overlimit, no license, trapping doves.. -

Ducks: closed season, no license, before sunrise, possess wood ducks, shoot

from power boat

Firearms in refuge

Game birds: shoot from power boat, rail, sandpiper, no license

Geese: closed season, shoot from auto, ovcrlimit

Grouse - -

Hunting: no license, night, using another's license, in refuge, from auto, fail

show license on demand, on posted land, closed area

Muskrats: closed season

Non-game birds

Pheasants: closed season, hen pheasant .

Pigeon : closed season

Quail: closed season, no license.. _ .-

Rabbits: no license, closed season, cottontail and jack rabbita...

Shoot from road, from auto, early, late, no gun plug, at night, in State Park,

in refuge. — -

Shorebirds- -

Sparrows

Squirrel: tree - —

Swan: possession, shooting

Trap: interfere with trapper, on refuge, no permit..-

Waterfowl: shooting before sunrise

Totals - -

120

47
16

149

32

12

35

2

81
2

12

118

3

30
9

35
17
1
2
2
4
87

$25 00

125 00
35 00
70 00

5,890 00

1,175 50
275 00

5,837 50

502 50

255 00

805 00

35 00

1,550 00

50 00

225 00

3,338 00
125 00
470 00
123 00

510 00

3()5 00

10 00

25 00

60 00

1,570 00

828

$23,451 50

1,5>!112

95

50

22

im

30

12'i

12>2

25

1,872

58

CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME

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64

CALIFORNIA FISH AXD GAME

SHIPMENTS OF FRESH FISH FROM OTHER STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES

October, 1940

Oregon and
Washington

South of

international

boundary

Japan

For canneries:
Tuna, Albacore.

For fresh fish markets:*
Barracuda..-

Crustacean:
Shrimp. _

Total pounds -

52,695

52,695

6,800
21,072

27,872

November, 1940

For canneries:
Tuna, Albacore.

For fresh fish markets:*
Cabrilla

Corbina, Mexican

Grouper

Sea-bass, Totuava

Crustacean:
Shrimp- -

MoUusk:
Clam, unclassified-

Total pounds-

Oregon and
Washington

48,560

48,560

South of

international

boundary

509

432

312

39,140

7,143
150

47,686

Japan

For canneries:
Tuna, Albacore.

For fresh fish markets:*

Cabrilla-

Perch

Rockfish

Sea-bass, Black

Sea-bass, Totuava

Smelt

Crustacean:
Shrimp...

Total pounds.

December, 1940

Oregon and
Washington

South of

international

boundary

1,019

262

820

78

103,308

225

3,815

109,527

Japan

77,866

77,866

♦This record includes only that fish which is voluntarily reported to the Division of Fish and Game and does not
represent all shipments.

97858 5-41 3800

BUREAU OF ENGINEERING

JOHN SPENCER, Chief San Francisco

Clarence Elliger, Assistant Hydraulic Engineer San Francisco

Byron Wittorff, Assistant Red Bluff

Samuel Kabakov, Civil Engineering Draftsman San Francisco

BUREAU OF LICENSES

H. R. DUNBAR, Chief Sacramento

L. O'Leary, Supervising License Agent Sacramento

Emil Dorig, License Agent San Francisco

R. Nickerson, Supervising License Agent Los Angeles

ACCOUNTS AND DISBURSEMENTS

D. H. BLOOD, Departmental Accounting OfBcer Sacramento

BUREAU OF PATROL

E. L. MACAULAY, Chief of Patrol (absent on military leave) San Francisco

L. F. CHAPPELL, Chief of Patrol San Francisco

CENTRAL DISTRICT (Headquarters, Sacramento)

C. S. Bauder, Inspector in Charge Sacramento

Northern Division

A. A. Jordan, Captain Redding

Jos. H. Sanders, Captain Sacramento

A. H. Willard, Captain Nevada City

E. O. "Wraith, Captain Susanville

L. E. Mercer, Warden, Butte County Chico

Chester Ramsey, Warden, Butte County Oroville

Taylor London, Warden, Colusa County Colusa

Albert Sears, Warden, El Dorado County Placerville

E. C. Vail, Warden, Glenn County Willows

Jack Sawyer, Warden, Lassen County Westwood

Don Davison, Warden, Modoc County Alturas

Earl Hiscox, Warden, Nevada County Nevada City

Wm. La Marr, Warden, Placer County Tahoe City

Nelson Poole, Warden, Placer County Auburn

E. J. Johnson, Warden, Plumas County Quincy

George Shockley, Warden, Plumas County Portola

H. S. Vary, Warden, Sacramento County Sacramento

Eugene Durney, Warden, Sacramento County Sacramento

Earl Caldwell, Warden, Shasta County Burney

Chas. Love, Warden, Shasta County Redding

Don Chipman, Warden, Siskiyou County Dunsmuir

Brice Hammack, Warden, Siskiyou County Yreka

Lewis Olive, Warden, Siskiyou County Tule Lake

Fred R. Starr, Warden, Siskiyou County Dorris

R. E. Tutt, Warden, Sierra County Downieville

J. E. Hughes, Warden, Solano County Dixon

A. Granstrom, Warden, Sutter County Yuba City

R. W. Anderson, Warden, Tehama County Red Bluff

Harold Erwick, Warden, Tehama County Corning

C. L. Gourley, Warden, Trinity County Weaverville

C. O. Fisher, Warden, Yolo County Woodland

R. A. Tinnin, Warden, Yuba County Browns Valley

Southern Division

S. R. Gilloon, Captain Fresno

John O'Connell, Captain Stockton

R. J. Little, Warden, Amador county Pine Grove

L. R. Garrett, Warden, Calaveras County Murphys

F. A. Bullard, Warden, Fresno County Reedley

Paul Kehrer, Warden, Fresno County Fresno

Lester Arnold, Warden, Kern County Bakersfleld

C. L. Brown, Warden, Kern County Kernville

C. S. Donham, Warden, Kern County Taft

Ray Ellis, Warden, Kings County Hanford

H. E. Black, Warden, Madera County Madera

Gilbert T. Davis, Warden, Mariposa County Mariposa

Hilton Bergstrom, Warden, Merced County Los Banos

R. Switzer, Warden, Merced County Merced

R. J. Bullard, Warden, San Joaquin County Tracy

Wm. Hoppe, Warden, San Joaquin County Lodi

Geo. Magladry, Warden, Stanislaus County Modesto

W. I. Long, Warden, Tulare County Visalia

Roswell Welch, Warden, Tulare County Porterville

F. F. Johnston, Warden, Tuolumne County Sonora

COAST DISTRICT (Headquarters, San Francisco)
K. P. Allred, Inspector In Charge San Francisco

Northern Division

W. J. Harp, Captain Uitiah

J. D. Dondero, Captain Lakeport

Henry Lencloni, Captain Santa Rosa

Ray Diamond, Warden, Del Norte County Crescent City

Walter Gray, Warden, Humboldt County Garberville

John Hurley, Warden, Humboldt County Eureka

W. P. Kaliher, Warden, Humboldt County Fortuna

William Sholes, Warden, Humboldt County Areata

Scott Feland, Warden, Lake County Lakeport

M. F. Joy, Warden, Marin County Tibiiron

R J. Yates, Warden, Marin County San Rafael

Ovid Holmes, Warden, Mendocino County Fort Bragg

Floyd Loots, Warden, Mendocino County Willits

Leo Mitchell, Warden, Mendocino County Point Arena

R. Remley, Warden, Mendocino County Willits

J. W. Harbuck, Warden, Napa County Napa

Bert Laws, Warden, Sonoma County Petaluma

Victor Von Arx, Warden, Sonoma County Santa Rosa

George Johnson, Warden, Sonoma County CloverdaJe

Southern Division

O. P. Brownlow, Captain Alameda

C. L. Bundock, Warden, Alameda County Oakland

Ed Clements, Warden, Contra Costa County Martinez

Owen Mello, Warden, Monterey County Pacific Grove

Henry Ocker. Warden, Monterey County King City

F. H. Post, Warden, Monterey County Salinas

J. P. Vissiere, Warden, San Benito County Hollister

Lee C. Shea, Warden, San Francisco County San Francisco

F. W. Hecker, Warden, San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo

Orben Philbrick, Warden, San Luis Obispo County Paso Robles

C. R. Peek, Warden, San Mateo County San Mateo

M. S. Clark, Warden, Santa Clara County Palo Alto

C. E. Holladay, Warden, Santa Clara County San Jose

P. J. McDermott, Warden, Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz

SOUTHERN DISTRICT (Headquarters, Los Angeles)

Earl Macklin, Captain in Charge Los Angeles

E. H. Ober, Captain, Special Duty Los Angeles

Western Division

L. T. Ward, Captain Escondido

Fred Albrecht, Warden, Los Angeles County Los Angeles

Walter Shannon, Warden, Los Angeles County Los Angeles

Walter Emerick, Warden, Los Angeles County Palmdale

Theodore Jolley, Warden, Orange County Orange

E. H. Glidden, Warden, San Diego County San Diego

Chester Parker, Warden, San Diego County Julian

A R. Ainsworth, Warden, Santa Barbara County Santa Maria

R. E. Bedwell, Warden, Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara

W. Greenwald, Warden, Ventura County Flllniore

John Spicer, Warden, Ventura County Ojai

Eastern Division

H. C. Jackson, Captain San Bernnrdino

Leo Rossier, Warden, Imperial County El Centro

W. S. Talbott, Warden, Inyo County Bishop

C. J. Walters, Warden, Inyo County Independence

Al Crocker, Warden, Mono County Bridgeport

Charles Mayfield, Warden, Riverside County Idyllwild

W. C. Blewett, Warden, Riverside County Indio

W. L. Hare, Warden, Riverside County Hemet

R. C. O'Conner, Warden, Riverside County Banning

A. L. Stager, Warden, San Bernardino County Upland

W. C. Malone, Warden, San Bernardino County San Bernardino

James Loundagin, Warden, San Bernardino County Big Bear Lake

Otto Rowland, Warden, San Bernardino County Victorvllle

MARINE PATROL

C. H. Groat, Inspector In Charge Terminal Island

Ralph Classic, Captain Monterey

Lars "Weseth. Master, M.V. N. B. Scofleld Terminal Island

Walter Engelke, Master, M.V. Bluefin Monterey

Howard V. Shebley, Warden, Cruiser Bonito Newport Harbor

, Assistant Warden, Cruiser Bonito Newport Harbor

Kenneth Webb. Warden, Cruiser Broadbill San Diego

Phillip Westcott, Assistant Warden, Cruiser Broadbill San Diego

Niles Millen, Warden, Cruiser Marlin Avalon

Robert Wiley. Assistant Warden, Cruiser Marlin Avalon

Charles Sibeck, Warden, Cruiser Perch Sacramento

Kenneth Hooker, Warden, Cruiser QvAnnat III San Francisco

Richard Hardin, Assistant Warden, Cruiser Quinnat III San Francisco

K. Lund, Warden, Launch Sturgeon Martinez

G. Whitesell, Assistant Warden, Launch Sturgeon Martinez

C. L. Savage, Warden, Cruiser Tuna Santa Monica

, Assistant Warden, Cruiser Tuna Santa Monica

John Barry, Warden, Cruiser Yellowtail Santa Barbara

L. R. Metzgar, Assistant Warden, Cruiser Yellowtail Santa Barbara

Ellis Berry. Warden Morro Bay

W. J. Black. Warden Monterey

J. R. Cox. Warden Watsonville

Donald Glass, Warden Terminal Island

Lester Golden, Warden Arroyo Grande

Erol Greenleaf, Warden Terminal Island

N. C. Kunkel, Warden Terminal Island

Leslie E. Lahr, Warden Terminal Island

Ralph Miller, Warden San Francisco

Tate F. Miller, Warden Terminal Island

T. W. Schilling, Warden Terminal Island

G. R. Smalley, Warden Richmond

T. J. Smith. Warden San Diego

L. G. Van Vorhis, Warden Terminal Island

E. L. Walker. Warden Terminal Island

Frank Felton, Assistant Warden San Diego

POLLUTION DETAIL

Paul Shaw, Chemist in Charge San Francisco

C. L. Towers, Warden Los Angeles

Don Hall. Warden Stockton

H. L. Lantis, Warden Long Beach

Jack McKerlie, Warden Oakland

R. L. Schoen, Warden Terminal Island

Walter R. Krukow, Assistant Warden Santa Barbara

J. A. Reutgen, Assistant Warden Vallejo

Clarence Whaley, Assistant Warden San Diego

CALIFORNIA JUNIOR GAME PATROL

George D. Seymour San Francisco

MARINE PATROL AND RESEARCH BOATS

Motor Vessel N. B. Scofleld, Terminal Island

Motor Vessel Bluefin, Monterey

Cruiser Bonito, Newport Harbor

Cruiser Broadbill, San Diego

Cruiser Marlin, Avalon

Cruiser Perch, Sacramento

Cruiser Quinnat III, San Francisco

Cruiser Tuna, Santa Monica

Cruiser Yellowtail, Santa Barbara

Launch Sturgeon, Martinez

printed in California state printing offics

SACRAMENTO, 19^1 GEORGE H. MOORE, STATE PRINTER