Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just moved to Oakland from Minneapolis, where I spent 10 years and never found anything other than a few garters and brown snakes. In my first few days here, I've found about 20 cal slenders. Then, yesterday morning, I found this guy, an arboreal sally. Wow. Right in my garden. I cannot WAIT until the weather gets warmer. The thought of seeing my first cal. king in the wild is driving me nuts.

John Schilling
Snake Phreak
Oakland, CA

John,
I was born and grew up in Oakland until I was 15 when my parents
moved the family to Corvallis, Oregon where I now reside.

So Oakland is where I cut my teeth on herping in the mid 1940's.
Actually, the first snakes I observed were junvenile Sharp-tailed Snakes in a vacant lot in the Glenview (or is it Glenfield) District along Park Blvd. But I really didn't get into herping unitl I found a dead garter snake up Dimond Canyon in east Oakland and brought it home for all to see. I have been hooked ever since.

Finding an Arboreal Salamander in your back yard would suggest you might reside in the east Oakland hills rather than down in the main city area.

Richard F. Hoyer

No, actually right down in the city, by lake Merritt (not a great neighborhood). Just lucky I guess! Now if only a rubber boa or cal king would wander into my yard...

I had some projects involving birds at Merritt, welcome to CA and you will be amazed at what you find here! Please make sure and get a fishing license (assuming you have not) so that you will be safe when in the field. Wait until you get to the desert, then you will really "phreak" LOL.
Bienvenudos a California!

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Cheers
Lateralis
"I would rather be precisely wrong than approximately right"
Marion "Doc" Ford

Ha, that looks like the sacred mtn, Baboquivari.

TC

Sacred is right, that place is my "Mecca"
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Cheers
Lateralis
"I would rather be precisely wrong than approximately right"
Marion "Doc" Ford

Slenders are very common within urban areas but finding the Arboreal in that part of the city I would think is somewhat unusual.

As a kid, my first love was birding and Lake Merit was a special place. Also use to fish for smelt in Lake Merit.

As for where to go in that region, you should contact
'Fieldnotes' on this forum as he use to live in Berkeley before he moved to the greater L.A. area. William is very knowledgeable about the herps throughout Calif. as well as the East Bay Area.

C. bottae can still be found in the hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. I have a male from the Berkeley Hills and a female from nearby Contra Costa county that were given to me with respect to my research of the species.

Richard F. Hoyer

Any help on good herping spots in the east bay area, and elsewhere (deserts too) would be greatly appreciated.

By the way, this guy did let out a squeak when I picked him up.

Gary Nafis of Californiaherps.com lived in the lowlands of Oakland and he mentioned having Arboreal Salamanders thriving in his garden. The next few months, are going to be prime-time to look for salamanders. The East Bay has a fantastic variety of animals that can be found easily by taking a day hike. Try the county regional parks, there are a lot of them and they all have salamanders, from slender to tiger. Also, Marin County is a day drive away, and Pacific Giants and Rough-skinned newts are easily found my searching out rocky streams in Redwood/Pine forests. Oh and you cant forget to take a trip to the Santa Cruz Mountains that place is awesome. Dang! the entire area is herp heaven! All a person needs to do is buy a copy of Stebbins’ field guide, buy gas, and take a hike.

I've been chatting with Gary via email, he gave me some good spots to look. I have no car right now, sadly, which makes getting anywhere next to impossible. I would like to go hunt for some newts. Any ideas on places in the east bay that are close (or BART-able) to the lake?

Thats awesome John. I would love to see one of those.
Jeff