Don came trotting into the house the other day. "Grab your camera," he said. "And hurry."
Whenever he suggests something like this, I don't argue. I grabbed my camera and hurried.
He had been working on a project which required the use of a couple of 2x6s, a pile of which we have stacked and tarped in the driveway. He pulled back the tarp just enough to pull out a couple of boards, but what he saw made him come get me and the camera.
Two racer snakes – good sized ones – were curled up on the boards, looking annoyed at the disturbance.
I'm guessing they were both about two feet long.
The morning was kind of chilly, so the snakes were rather sluggish. This allowed us a few moments to admire them.
I was snapping photos fairly quickly so they're not in the best focus, but one snake looked like it was blind (blue eyes). Either the camera was playing tricks with the lighting, or (Don's suggestion) it might have been in the beginning stages of shedding.
Despite the presence of the snakes, Don needed his boards; so he carefully started pulling them out of the pile, far enough away from the snakes so as not to disturb them. Despite this, they began moving.
Zooming in on that one snake ... yep, blue eyes, not a trick of the light. Yep, shedding.
The blue-eyed snake tried to crawl into a space between the boards as Don pulled one out above it. No worries, that was the last board he needed. We re-tarped the wood and left the snakes alone to continue their task of keeping mice under control.
Although it wouldn't surprise me to find a snakeskin next time we need a 2x6.
We commonly have a couple of black racers around our home in SW Florida. Often find whole shedded skins at base of palm trees and the pool equipment which sits on cement pavers with rough edges. Finding one with the '"eyes" was amazing, had no idea it was done like that.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I saw a black racer was when I was walking around the dunes by my beach. I thought there was a large stick blocking the path, until it suddenly slid away. I yelled. I'd never seen one that big before. (We don't have any venomous snakes on LI so I am not afraid of them, just easily startled.)
ReplyDeleteThose sure look like garter snakes to me. The yellow/light colored strips help with identification. Black racers are....black.
ReplyDeleteI don't know my snakes, so you're likely right.
Delete- Patrice
Those sure look like garter snakes to me, with the light colored/yellow stripes. Black racers are a uniform black.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the unintended double post.
Delete