the serpent cycle of life was caught on tape last weekend at the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve in Antioch where an adult California kingsnake got the best of an equally-hefty gopher snake.

I walked up to a gopher snake coiling around an adult male quail. After some yelling, the snake released the quail and went under the bushes. I thought the poor quail was dead as he laid there ...

When adult California ground squirrels discover ... the ground squirrel tails didn’t warm appreciably during similar taunting of a gopher snake. This predator doesn’t have infrared sensors.