A brief walk around noon in the hot sun at Briones Regional Park didn’t reveal much in terms of spotting many different species, but did give some great views of possibly the largest Western Rattlesnake I have ever seen (it must have been close to three feet if not over). It’s not often that you see them during the day as they are primarily nocturnal.
Western Rattlesnake at Briones Regional Park
It exhibited some behavior I had never seen before as it slowly poked around the grass near the edge of the trail, moving away from the trail then back toward it, all the while incessantly flicking its tongue in and out. After a good 10 to 15 minutes of this behavior, it slithered away.