With a Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta): that is. I like Black Rat Snakes. This is the fourth I’ve encountered this year. I think I’m starting to understand them and I like them.
We were driving down a road in Hancock County, Georgia, when W swerved, hit the breaks, whipped he truck into reverse can backed down the road. It was less than a mile from where we encountered the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) in July. In this case, I didn’t hesitate to hop out and walk up to it – slowly so as not to upset it more than it probably already was. But, it wasn’t like walking up to the rattlesnake. It was like approaching an old friend. If I picked up snakes, I would have picked this one up without hestitation.
*****
*****
It had started out onto the road as we came by. We hadn’t hit it. By the time we backed up, it was in its classic ‘crinkle’ pose.
A closer view of its head
And, for some reason, I took a shot of its tail; it was just stretched out
After a while, the tell-tale tongue flick. I’d seen that at Fort Yargo State Park when I encountered one on the trail late one afternoon. The sign that it was thinking about leaving. Testing the air to see if it was safe to turn and leave. What do they detect - or not detect - that tells them it's safe to leave?
Then it turned to leave
Interestingly, it ‘pulled’ its tail up as it started to move off. I’d never noticed that before.
And off it went. Safely back into the brush.
It seemed as if we had been photographing it for a long time, but when I looked at the time-stamp on the images, the entire encounter had lasted a total of just four minutes.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification resource:
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Herpetology Program: Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta; formerly Elaphe obsoleta)
Related posts:
- OK, Now I’m Getting A Complex: Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsolete) At Home
- Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta): Broad River Wildlife Management Area, Wilkes County, Georgia
- Black Rat Snake: Another Close Encounter
- And There It Was… Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta)
OK, now I’m getting a complex. I had a secret hope that I’d see and photograph more snakes this year. But two in the space of two days is overdoing it. At least they’re Black Rat Snakes.I was driving home yesterday afternoon and saw a snake extended across the opposite lane. It was a young snake compared with the one we saw on Saturday. It was in ‘crinkle’ pose – frozen into a series of kinks – probably in response to me driving up. As I passed it, I couldn’t tell if it was alive but, as I was deciding whether to back up, it started to move off. I backed up quickly and pulled forward between it and the embankment it was going to have to climb to reach the woods.
I jumped out and found a stick to encourage it to stop. It coiled up into a tight ball. That gave me time to re-park the car off the road, grab my camera, run back to get at least one photograph, run back to the car to turn off the headlights and run back to take more photographs.
It had curled up into a tight ball in response to being asked to stick around for some photographs. I couldn’t see its head.
A closer view. If you enlarge this photograph you can see its head sticking out from under the coils on the right. I didn’t see its head until I enlarged the image tonight.
I rolled the ball over, suspecting that its head was protected under the coils of its body. It’s interesting to compare the defensive response of this young snake to coil up into a ball compared with the big snake that assumed a strike pose.
After a while it started to move off cautiously
A little further
Almost completely uncoiled and heading up the embankment. It was a beautiful young healthy snake. About 3 feet long and slender, only about a third of the diameter of the snake we saw last Saturday.
Almost to the top
Heading over the top and off into the woods. There’s a subdivision on the other side of the woods. I hope it stayed clear of the houses. It’s more likely to be killed by folk who think that the only good snake is a dead snake. It deserves to live a long life.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification resource:
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Herpetology Program: Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta)
Related posts:
- Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta): Broad River Wildlife Management Area, Wilkes County, Georgia
- Black Rat Snake: Another Close Encounter
- And There It Was… Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta)
*****
*****
It had started out onto the road as we came by. We hadn’t hit it. By the time we backed up, it was in its classic ‘crinkle’ pose.
A closer view of its head
And, for some reason, I took a shot of its tail; it was just stretched out
After a while, the tell-tale tongue flick. I’d seen that at Fort Yargo State Park when I encountered one on the trail late one afternoon. The sign that it was thinking about leaving. Testing the air to see if it was safe to turn and leave. What do they detect - or not detect - that tells them it's safe to leave?
Then it turned to leave
Interestingly, it ‘pulled’ its tail up as it started to move off. I’d never noticed that before.
And off it went. Safely back into the brush.
