Mark:
The San Gabriel Mts. appear to be an example where the 'exception proves the rule'. That is, although seemingly possessing similar habitat at suitable elevations where the Rubber Boa has been documented in the San Bernardino Mts. to the east and Alamo Mt., Frazier Mt., Mt. Pinos, and Mt. Abel to the west, to my knowledge, the Rubber Boa has not been documented as occurring in the San Gabriel Mts. Over the years, there have been a number of unconfirmed anecdotal accounts of the species being observed in the San Gabriels but no confirming documentation.

The same situation applied to a reported population of the species in San Luis Obispo County. Over the years, there had been a handful of sightings of the species particularly in Montana de Oro Park right on the coast. But then last May, a gentleman photographed a specimens found on a trail in that park which constitutes a photographic voucher confirming the existence of the species in that region of Calif.

The San Gabriels have another puzzle that as far as I know, has defied explanation. The blotched form of Ensatina occurs at the far eastern end of the San Bernardino Mts., on Breckenridge Mts., in the Tehachapi Mts., on Mt. Abel, and Mt. Pinos and on the Tejon Ranch property right along I-5 at Tejon Pass. Yet that form of Ensatina so far, appears to be absent from the just east of I-5 through the San Gabriel Mts. and most of the San Bernardino where the plain brown or 'Monterey' form of Ensatina replaces the black / yellow blotched form.

This is know as 'Bob's Gap' after Dr. Robert Stebbins whose major research involved the distribution of the various forms of Ensatina.

Richard F. Hoyer

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