Springtime snake

March 6, 2020 by Mike Powell

Our recent warm weather has caused all kinds of creatures to reappear, like this Eastern Ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) that I spotted on Wednesday while hiking in Prince William Forest Park. I kept my distance and relied on a telephoto lens to zoom closer even though I knew that this snake was not poisonous. I am not sure how long the snake was, but as you can see in the second photo it looked to be quite long. According to the Virginia Herpetological Society website, the Eastern Ratsnake is the only snake in Virginia that can grow to be more than six feet (183 cm) in length.

UPDATE: A snake expert weighed in on my Facebook posting about this snake and noted that, “This is a Black Racer (Coluber constrictor constrictor). It’s harder to tell with the mud, but the dorsal scales are unkeeled, the skull shape too round, scale shape more rhombus-like, and eyes too big.” This just reinforces the notion that the more that I learn, the more I realize how little I know—that is why it is great to have experts around to help us identify what we see and photograph. The average size of a Northern Black Racer is “only” 36-60 inches (90-152 cm).

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, snake, spring, wildlife | Tagged black racer, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm, Coluber constrictor constrictor, Eastern Ratsnake, Northern Black Racer, Northern Black Racer snake, Pantherophis alleghaniensis, Prince William Forest Park, rat snake, Triangle VA | 16 Comments

16 Responses

on March 6, 2020 at 8:53 am | Reply Reed Andariese

Nice Mike! I always give snakes plenty of room!
on March 6, 2020 at 9:05 am | Reply mitzybricker

Nice photos!

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- on March 6, 2020 at 9:38 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Mitzy. Whenever I photograph snakes, I know that I will get a varied reaction from viewers. Some will be fascinated and see the beauty of the snakes and some will be completely creeped out.
on March 6, 2020 at 9:23 am | Reply shoreacres

Waht a beauty! And, yes — those telephoto lenses do come in handy for more than birds.
- on March 6, 2020 at 9:36 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. Sometimes I get even bolder, as I did when I took a photo that was so close that I could see my reflection in the snake’s eye. https://michaelqpowell.com/2014/04/30/my-reflection-in-a-snakes-eye/
on March 6, 2020 at 11:34 am | Reply Michael Scandling

I agree with you on telephotos. Out here in California we have a rattlety-bangedly snakes, and I definitely keep my distance.
on March 6, 2020 at 11:52 am | Reply mvschulze

Pretty! The only time I came across a rattle snake, and it was rattling it’s tail, was outside Scottsdale AZ. Some years ago. Caution was the word! Nice pic. M 🙂
on March 6, 2020 at 3:04 pm | Reply krikitarts

Yes, you’re right to put the quotation marks around the only. Most folks, I think, would feel quite apprehensive in the presence of any snake that’s approaching 5 feet in length. I remember seeing one (very probably a black racer) about that size climbing up the side of a leaning tree in the woods near the Vienna Metro station. BTW, did you know that there are no snakes in the wild in New Zealand?
- on March 6, 2020 at 4:28 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  That’s amazing to hear that there are no snakes in the wild in New Zealand, Gary. How do they keep non-indigenous from being introduced? The only time that I can recall being remotely alarmed in the presence of a snake was last year when I encountered a copperhead, one of the few poisonous snakes in our area.
  - on March 7, 2020 at 12:53 am krikitarts
    
    The Dept. of Conservation is very strict regarding any possible introduction of such critters. As I recall, someone smuggled in a discarded snakeskin and left it in a botanical garden and it caused quite a stir. The only native reptiles are skinks (30 species), geckos (21), and turtles (3). There are 3 introduced turtles and one skink. There is also the native tuatara, which is actually (and amazingly) more closely related to dinosaurs than to modern lizards. Here’s a link to general info: https://inaturalist.nz/guides/1335. Lots more via Google.
  - on March 7, 2020 at 3:28 am Mike Powell
    
    Thanks for all of the information, Gary. I was fascinated when I looked up details on the tuatara. Wow! As I read more about the critters of New Zealand, I came to realize how much of a closed ecosystem it is and how dangerous introduced species can be in upsetting a delicate balance.
on March 7, 2020 at 8:42 pm | Reply nliakos

The snake’s body looks like some kind of Celtic art in the second image. Sinuous.
- on March 8, 2020 at 8:03 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I too was quite taken with the way that the snake was loosely coiled. “Sinuous” is the perfect descriptor. 🙂
on March 9, 2020 at 1:43 am | Reply krikitarts

Oh, and I almost forgot–of course there’s Smaug too!
on March 11, 2020 at 12:52 am | Reply Laura Denise

I ran out into my yard to capture (via lens) a super-long black racer I saw in my bedroom window. 🙂 They’re pretty cute up close.
- on March 11, 2020 at 6:36 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Wow. There are not many people that I know who would consider a snake “cute,” but photographers are notoriously weird. 🙂