The San Mateo Canyon Wilderness is located in the Santa Ana Mountains between Riverside and Orange Counties. Chaparral-covered hillsides, deep canyons, and huge sycamores and coast live oaks characterize the entire mountain range. The landscape is remarkably rugged. The single winding and twisted highway through the Santa Anas attracts hordes of motorists and hikers.
Far away from the hand of man, however, there is a curious evolutionary arms race playing out deep in the leaf litter and creek bottoms of San Mateo Canyon Wilderness. This story involves sordid sex and incredibly poisonous animals, and it’s one that surprised even me.
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