Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry no pics, I was hiking on a trail on the West coast in Palos Verdes California just for excercise, middle of the day, way too hot for snakes so I brought nothing with me. I've never seen Cal kings in this field either, just gophersnakes and Southern pacific rattlesnakes.

I heard a slight rustling in some dry grass about 2ft off the trail, while mountain bikers wizzed past me. I look down to see a lifeless gophersnake being pulled around from below the grass. Turns out to be an adult Cal king under there. The adult Cal king was typical for Palos Verdes, brown with dirty yellow bands.

Then I see a flash of light-brown and bright yellow, typical of the younger Cal kings from PV. It is a subadult Cal king that came up from under the grass and grabbed the other end of the gohpersnake. I couldn't believe it. Two Cal kings on a blazing hot day while throngs of people rode or jogged by. I watched for a good 10 minutes. The smaller, younger Cal king gave up and retreated as the bigger one was about 1/2 way done swallowing the gophersnake. I left them all be from there and went on my way. Cool sight to see.
-----
Mark

yea..and last winter while I was on my 5 mile daily walk through the snow ..I saw a cornsnake being eatin by a kingsnake that was being eatin by a king cobra all at the same time..dang if I didn't have my camera then either..... LMAO..great story mark.
-----
Richard Evans

no not THAT one

Wow that would have been a sight to see.
-----

Very cool Mark. What were the temps? Very surprising to see 2 in the middle of the day, but PV is a coastal locale, right? I've seen a couple out daytime in a coastal part of the Santa Monicas, but never dukin' it out over food. Awesome!

reako45

Thanks. The air temp was about 85. Yes, the ocean is about 1.5 miles from this area, and at dusk it does cool down.

The kings were both under layers of dry grass, and I wouldn't have even seen them had it not been for the sound and the gophersnake. When I carefully parted the grass, there were mammal burrows all around the area under the grass cover.

I imagine the kings were just below the surface, smelled or sighted that gophersnake, and came up to feed. The interesting thing is that the 2nd king must have been right nearby, which supports the idea that the kings do occur communally. And the big king could have easily gone after the smaller king but didn't.
-----
Mark