Favoritos de louavery

Afternoon on the Loop Trail I spotted something in the distance; in binoculars, it was revealed to be a dead California Ground Squirrel. On May 5th, in almost exactly the same location, I observed a conflict between a San Diego Gopher Snake and a California Ground Squirrel, documented here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213886336

Because of that earlier observation, I approached slowly and noticed there were snake tracks in the dirt to the left and to the right of the ground squirrel. I waited. After about a minute movement in the weeds along the northern edge of the trail, which soon revealed itself as a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. The snake sampled the air with its tongue and made its way back to the California Ground Squirrel.

Initially it tried to get its head around the squirrel; after re-adjusting a couple of times, it chose to drag the squirrel into the weeds on the north side of the trail.

Rough Greensnake catching an orbweaver spider. It got close to the web and then stayed there for what felt like 10 minutes (not sure it was waiting to figure out how to catch the spider or because I had disturbed it). After a while, it finally caught the spider and seemed to have no trouble eating it. My first time seeing a wild snake catch its prey!