Welcome to the Snake Series! All snakes in this series are indigenous to this mountain range. (No snakes were harmed in the creation of these caches.)
The cache: a soda preform reachable from the trail
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus oreganus
(venomous) A heavy-bodied pit viper, with a thin neck, a large triangular head, and a rattle on the end of the tail consisting of loose interlocking hollow segments.
The ground color is variable, matching the environment - olive-green, gray, brown, golden, reddish brown, yellowish, or tan. Dark brown or black blotched markings, usually with dark edges and light borders, mark the back, with corresponding blotches on the sides. The underside is pale.
Young are born with a bright yellow tail with no rattle - just a single button which does not make a sound. They grow rattles and lose the yellow color as they age.
Primarily nocturnal and crepuscular during periods of excessive daytime heat, but also active during daylight when the temperature is more moderate. Not active during cooler periods in Winter. In colder areas, known to den in burrows, caves, and rock crevices, sometimes in large numbers.
Eats birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, and small mammals, including mice, rats, rabbits, hares, and ground squirrels (however adult California Ground Squirrels are immune to rattlesnake venom and are not afraid to confront snakes)