Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the ..session of the Legislature of the State of California . m how these little fish became sowidely disseminated in isolated springs. are not abundant in arid California. Perhaps rattlesnakesare the most common species, though they are not nearly as commonas when I first knew the desert, nearly forty years ago. Every onekills rattlesnakes wherever found, and this steady destruction hasdecidedly lessened their number. The small rattlesnake known as thesidewinder is peculiar in its mode of locomotion. It moves side- 134 REPOR
Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the ..session of the Legislature of the State of California . m how these little fish became sowidely disseminated in isolated springs. are not abundant in arid California. Perhaps rattlesnakesare the most common species, though they are not nearly as commonas when I first knew the desert, nearly forty years ago. Every onekills rattlesnakes wherever found, and this steady destruction hasdecidedly lessened their number. The small rattlesnake known as thesidewinder is peculiar in its mode of locomotion. It moves side- 134 REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. wise or diagonally to the direction which it faces. It is dreaded by thedesert rats because it gives so little warning; its rattle is small andis little used, while the larger species sound their rattle on slightprovocation. Several other species of snakes live in this region. LIZARDS. Lizards are comparatively abundant, both in species and in indi-viduals. Several prospectors and cattlemen have told me that theyhad seen the big lizard known as the Gila monster in southeastern. The border of the desert. (Photo by courtesy of Mr. Frank Stevens.) California. A little questioning usually convinced me that the lizardreally seen was the chuckwalla, another large lizard that is rathercommon in rocky places in the Mojave Desert, and is occasionallyfound in the foothills bordering the Colorado Desert. I know of noreliable record of the occurrence of the Gila monster anywhere in Cali-fornia. It is the only poisonous lizard found in the United States. Thedesert Indians formerly ate chuekwallas and other large lizards, andto some extent do so yet. White men laughed at them for eatinglizards and rats, and now they do not like to be seen eating suchthings, although they are really as clean and wholesome as squirrelsand rabbits. REPORT OP THE PISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 135 TORTOISES. Agassiz tortoises inhabit arid California. They are found mostoften on the
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