Reptile & Amphibian Forums

With family coming next week, I'm seriously contemplating going northwest a bit from where I live up to the Trinity Lake area along highway 3 with my little brother (16).

I'm hoping to find a L. Zonata while there, I'm curious as to whether anyone here has hunted for them in that area and what success they have or have not had.

I'm hoping to find a hatchling, though it might still be too early for that - I don't know.

The zonata in that area appear (from the field guide anyway) to be St. Helena X Sierra integrades.

Have you ever found any in San Mateo, Santa Clara or Santa Cruz counties? I don't know about now but they used be there 30 yrs ago, ofcourse not as common as cali and gophers.

Try HWY 35 btwn Sky Londa and Redwood Estates

or

Try HWY 9 btwn Saratoga and Santa Cruz

The Steven's Creek Canyon Rd. area was also pretty good, way up the from the damn, btwn Monte Bello Ridge and Castle Rock Ridge.

> Have you ever found any in San Mateo, Santa Clara or Santa Cruz
> counties?

No. Those are actually the most beautiful subspecies IMHO.
I have looked on Mt Diablo and Mt Tamalpais, and in the redwood forest up at Jenner by the Sea. I've also looked in the Sierra's - near Truckee (where I found some interesting salamanders and Mountain Yellow Legged Frogs)

Whenever I've been in Santa Cruz, it's always been Santa Cruz proper, at the boardwalk. If I don't find one up by Trinity Lake, I think next May I'll try to get to the Santa Cruz mountains for a week.

Like i said b/4 they arn't as common as cali and gophers, good luck anyway.