I went out near sundown on Sunday and Wednesday nights this week hoping to find some rosy boas, but it was just too hot and late in the season.
On Sunday I drove an hour East of San Diego near the Mexican boarder and found VERY dry conditions and not a lot of activity. At sundown it was still about 88 degrees, and an hour later it was 85, with not a lot of rodent activity visible. I usually visit this site in May when things are a lot greener and there's a lot of action. I did find a very pretty Red Diamondback rattlesnake, and a little night snake (I think).
On Wednesday evening I walked a little bit of the "Flume" about 30 minutes East of San Diego. Again there wasn't much going on, but after dark I got to see a gecko and a nice red diamondback in an interesting place. The Flume is a concrete aqueduct running between two small dammed lakes that is used for overflow when needed, which is not often. It was built to have a steady declination over some rough terrain and so walking in, on, or next to it is the easiest way to travel through that area. It's a favorite of illegal aliens coming in from Mexico, and judging from the amount of discarded plastic bottles, tuna cans with labels in Spanish, discarded clothing, and other debris they dump in the area; there are thousands of them per year. A loud "buzzzzzzz" coming from the open end of a covered section of the flume, that I had just stomped across the top of, got me to crouch down and shuffle 50 feet into the "tunnel" to look for the snake I had bothered. It was hot, but I had a great time.
