Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Lester,
You say you are back from your study sites. What are you seeing? I went to one of my favorite areas where I usually see anywhere from 2 to 5 HL's in a short one hour hike. Today I hiked for almost two hours and covered twice as much ground as I normally do and didn't see a thing. Not even any fresh signs.

The place is basically a fire break on top of a ridge. Thick manzanita and other scrub but no real trees. There is a road cut half way up that meets the break in one spot. There is also a creak about 100 yards down at the bottom of the canyon. Is it likely that they all moved from the ridge top, where I saw them in spring and early summer down to the cooler canyon bottom?
Any enlightenment is greatly appreciated.
Cheers!

ps. There are P. Coronatum

Hello Cable.
The adult activity is down, which is typical for this time of the year. The mating and nesting activity has passed. If you see adults now, it will be for very short periods, if at all. Now is the time to keep your eyes really focused for the hatchlings. I have already seen numerous hatchlings at my study sites. The hatchlings started appearing on July 9th and the numbers have been increasing. Adults go into a mid season aestivation period and it coincides with the hatching period. It appears that the adults remove themselves from resource competition with hatchlings to promote survivability. There should be a good population increases seen in 2005, if 2004 has good rainfall cycle in the winter/spring. There is always a lag time in population increase, if there is one. It may only be enough to balance the population though. We will have to wait and see. If 2004 has average or above rainfall, there may even be a population boom if there is ample habitat to support increases and balance competition for resources. Keep your eyes focused on the ground

Good Luck and I will let you know the numbers and projections as soon as I can completer the data analysis.
Lester G. Milroy III

Thanks Lester. I was looking for the young ones and just didn't see anything at all. it was about 9:30am. Are they more likely to be active in the later afternoon? I seem to remember this from way back when I used to hike around Acton. I would see the little ones in the sand in creek bottoms in the afternoon if I remember right.
Looking forward to seeing your web sight with all this great study info.
You sound very busy lately.
Cheers!