File:Gila monster- Image from page 90 of "Western field" (1902).jpg

Identifier: westernfield101907olym Title: Western field Year: 1902 (1900s) Authors: Olympic Club (San Francisco, Calif.) California Game and Fish Protective Associations Subjects: Olympic Club (San Francisco, Calif.) California Game and Fish Protectice Associations Sports Publisher: San Francisco Contributing Library: San Francisco Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: San Francisco Public Library

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Text Appearing Before Image: They can seldombe induDed to eat anything but raw eggs.The species is most abundant in the val-ley of the Gila River, in Arizona. A largeexample is twenty inches long. Though snakes are considerably less evi-dent in the deserts proper than the lizards,the Southwest is a veritable paradise forserpents. It is here that we have a nucleusamong the different species of westernrattlesnakes. Harmless serpents abound inthe valleys and ever prevalent, as is therase all over North America, are thestriped snakes, representing several speciesof Eutacnia. The latter may always be toldby their keeled scales, with three yellowishstripes upon a darker ground-color—a stripeon the middle of the back and one on eachside of the body. In some locahties theseperfectly harmless snakes may be foundliterally swarming, a condition explainedby their power of multiplication. They areviviparous, giving birth to as many as sev-enty-five young in a litter, though the usualnumber varies from twenty to thirty. The

Text Appearing After Image: The Only Poiso (Hc/odertnasuspectum.)e Unili.-d States. Ttie Fanes : 82 WESTERN FIELD young are ingenuously secretive and not atall particular as to food, thriving as wellupon a diet of earthworms as upon youngfrogs and toads. An accompanying photo-graph shows a snake of this kind and herlitter. One of the most peculiar of themis Marcys Striped Snake, {Eulacnia etcgcnsmarciana), a variety of serpen, found onthe Pacific Coast. The striking patternmight lead a popular observer to brand thereptile as venomous. The body hue is strawcolor, with three narrow yellow stripes,but most extraordinary are longitudinalrows of square black spots arranged inchecker-board fashion the entire lengthof the body. This snake is common inArizona, thence extends eastward to cen-tral Texas. Though not a reptile of the strictly aridregions, the Rubber Boa, (Charina Bottae),found in the Pacific States from Oregonto southern California, deserves some re- ference. It is a glossy little serpent, uni-form brown or

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