Since there has been a prolonged void of messages on this forum, I thought I would break the ice. I was wondering if either Sinnamongirl or HoggyMomma were ever able to obtain a Rubber Boa. ??

My annual trip south was very satisfactory. I left Corvallis at mid-morning of May 2nd and arriving back home the evening of May 7th. On May 2nd., I stopped by a spot near Burney, Calif. where I have found the species in the past but no soap this time. On the third, I first visited a site in the Oakland (Calif.) hills where the species has been found then travel over to the Santa Cruz Mts. in mid afternoon that day. At the first site I found only a Racer, a few garter snakes and one SAL. However at a second site, from 3:18 to 4:03, I came across innumerable garter snakes, three Racers, 3 - 4 SALs, some fence lizards and 10 boas all beneath artificial cover. Because I needed to travel further south that evening, I did not bother to record information on any of those 10 boas.

On the 4th, I searched my sites on Breckenridge Mt. 35 miles due east of Bakersfield and recorded information on 5 new boas and one recapture. On the 5th, I met another herper from S. Calif. and together we search my sites on Mt. Pinos 10 miles west of Tejon Pass and Frazier Park, Calif. and came up with one new boa.

On the 6th, I was with a group of about 20 herpers conducting searches for herps at higher elevations on the Tejon Ranch east of I-5 and the Tejon Pass summit. The two primary target species were the Rubber Boa and Calif. Mt. Kingsnake both of which had yet to be documented on ranch property. Both species were found that day.

On the way home on May 7th, that afternoon I stopped by my sites in the mountains east of Ashland and found 21 boas under artificial cover but one got away. Of the 20 I retained, 14 where recaptures and 6 were new specimens. Along with another gentleman, my wife and I returned to those sites last Sunday and released the 20 boas and found 7 more.

Hope all is going well for those maintaining the species.

Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)

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