While I thought seeing what could have been either a California Red-sided Gartersnake or a Coast Gartersnake (frustratingly hard to identify, especially if you only get a quick look) at Tilden Regional Park was fortuitous, our neighbor brought over one that he had found crossing a decently large street next to our house in Pleasanton.

California Red-sided Gartersnake found crossing a nearby street

We were able to get some pretty nice looks at it – and are somewhat hesitatingly identifying this one as a California Red-sided Gartersnake – before releasing it safely into the nearby hills.

Along Mines Road you encounter a lot of chaparral habitat. At one point a stream crosses Mines Road. This is a annual stop to check for tadpoles and indeed there were plenty of them. There were Western Toad tadpoles and Northern Pacific Treefrog tadpoles. The toad tadpoles, which were very dark, were present in large numbers.

Wildflowers are everywhere in San Antonio Valley. There are vast expanses filled with lupines, poppies, California buttercups and other species. And they are framed by the majestic oak trees. On prior trips Tule Elk, Coyote and Lewis Woodpecker have been seen here.

At a serene farm pond by the roadside, there was a pair of Ring-necked Ducks.

The highlight of the trip was a California Red-sided Garter Snake. It was sunning itself on top of one of the large corrugated metal pipes under a culvert. Garter Snakes are hard to identify and this identification is based on much consultation with the excellent site – www.californiaherps.com. Let me know if you have anything to add.

Other sightings along the way included  several Black-tailed Jackrabbits, Desert Cottontail, Black-tailed Deer, a few pairs of Wood Ducks, flocks of Wild Turkeys, Yellow-billed Magpies, California Thrasher, California Quail, Acorn Woodpecker.

Follow these links for  more information about our local reptiles , birds, mammals and amphibians on sfbaywildlife.info. See an  earlier trip report from August 2009 with photos of Tule Elk.

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Sharp-tailed Snake

In early November, I came across an interesting inhabitant of our backyard. It was a Sharp-tailed Snake. We see them every once in a while, usually in summer. This was a small one, lying still under some leaf debris because of the cold weather I suspect. At first I thought it was dead but it had burrowed under the surface by the time I came back in a few minutes.

These small, secretive snakes are seldom seen by most people. I had never seen one until we moved to this house on the outskirts of town in the Tri-Valley area of the East Bay. They are nocturnal and tend to burrow under things – leaf litter, logs, rocks. Their favorite food is slugs. They are reddish in color above and have a striking black-and-white pattern below. The tail ends in a sharp spike which gives them their name.

Sharp-tailed Snake underside

They are gentle and harmless and should be left alone.

More information can be found at sfbaywildlife.info.