Santa Catalina Island & Puerto Gato, Baja California Sur
The summer time is the time for reptiles, especially rattlesnakes, in the islands of the Gulf of California. In fact, as the temperature goes up slowly every day, until it reaches a maximum between July and August (up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit), the diverse and interesting reptiles can be seen anywhere. This cloudy morning we hiked on the beautiful island called Santa Catalina (name derived from the Greek Kataros, meaning “pure”). Two individuals of the “rattleless rattlesnake,” one of the ten endemic reptile species that live on this isolated granitic island were found in one of the island’s pretty arroyos.
From our naturalists we learned that this species evolved under the particular conditions of Santa Catalina Island, but somehow it lost the capability to develop the rattle. Rather, the individuals carry a rattle-like segment at the tip of the tail, and even shake it as normal rattlesnakes do, but no sound is produced. This phenomenon seems to be an evolutionary trend that has occurred on only a few of the gulf islands. One of the two rattlesnakes was gently caught and exposed to the cameras. It was really calm and quiet, and made few efforts to bite. After a few minutes of observation, we released it right where it was found. A desert iguana and two chuckwallas (also endemic forms) were seen on this magnificent island as well. One chuckwalla was feeding on the fruits of the cardon cactus that had fallen to the ground. These reptiles are entirely vegetarians and have powerful jaws so they can chew the hard and prickly shells of the fruits in order to get the nutritious flesh and seeds.
We spent the rest of the morning and the entire afternoon enjoying snorkeling, swimming and playing with our banana boat at Santa Catalina and Puerto Gato, the latter being our only landing site on the peninsula of Baja California.
The summer time is the time for reptiles, especially rattlesnakes, in the islands of the Gulf of California. In fact, as the temperature goes up slowly every day, until it reaches a maximum between July and August (up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit), the diverse and interesting reptiles can be seen anywhere. This cloudy morning we hiked on the beautiful island called Santa Catalina (name derived from the Greek Kataros, meaning “pure”). Two individuals of the “rattleless rattlesnake,” one of the ten endemic reptile species that live on this isolated granitic island were found in one of the island’s pretty arroyos.
From our naturalists we learned that this species evolved under the particular conditions of Santa Catalina Island, but somehow it lost the capability to develop the rattle. Rather, the individuals carry a rattle-like segment at the tip of the tail, and even shake it as normal rattlesnakes do, but no sound is produced. This phenomenon seems to be an evolutionary trend that has occurred on only a few of the gulf islands. One of the two rattlesnakes was gently caught and exposed to the cameras. It was really calm and quiet, and made few efforts to bite. After a few minutes of observation, we released it right where it was found. A desert iguana and two chuckwallas (also endemic forms) were seen on this magnificent island as well. One chuckwalla was feeding on the fruits of the cardon cactus that had fallen to the ground. These reptiles are entirely vegetarians and have powerful jaws so they can chew the hard and prickly shells of the fruits in order to get the nutritious flesh and seeds.
We spent the rest of the morning and the entire afternoon enjoying snorkeling, swimming and playing with our banana boat at Santa Catalina and Puerto Gato, the latter being our only landing site on the peninsula of Baja California.
