Matty holds his first snake of the season, a Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata). This is the earliest we've ever seen a Queen Snake out and about in the water. (These photos aren't bad! Kedar took them using Matty's iPhone. Matty definitely has a little me in him. He knew I'd want a few photos for the blog..)
Queen Snakes are aquatic and nonvenomous. Matty and Kedar found this snake by flipping rocks in the stream. Queen snakes are dark brown or olive on top with a yellow or honey-colored stripe along their sides. Underneath, they have a pair of dark stripes on their belly. The belly stripes are diagnostic and make it easy to distinguish them from garter snakes.
This little Queen Snake was very friendly and didn't even musk on Matty.
...a one-second video of Matty holding "Regina" the Queen Snake (it was one of those you think you're going to take a photo, but the video was left on videos). I wish they had taken an actual video. I love watching the snake's movement.
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9 comments:
Such fun to have snakes that are safe to handle. Ours are all deadly so we encourage our children to avoid then at any cost.
I thought about whether the snakes were out yesterday as I was cleaning out a flowerbed.
Cool! I haven't seen any snakes around here yet, although I have surprised some Painted Turtles sunning themselves atop one of the Muskrat lodges in the swamp in the Dykeman Wetlands Park (there are actually two lodges this year; there was only one last year). I'll have to keep an eye out for snakes.
but it was enough to catch movement and voice. :)
I can't say I've ever looked for the first SNAKE of spring, but maybe I should reconsider. She's kind of a cutie. How cool that Matty shared with you.
Ha! Must have been the day for queen snakes, as Myladylove found one while we were cleaning the yard yesterday. I believe the queen your son found might have been a bit larger than ours.
I was going to put a post up on our queen snake (and also our first snake of spring) this morning, saw yours, and thought I'd give it a day and do daffodils today instead. Like you, I consider that first snake t be a sure sign of the season.
Pretty good shots with that phone, BTW; I've done worse with my fancy Nikon.
Don't care much for snakes. Nice photos though! You're right, that video was just a split second!! lol
This is an interesting way to welcome Spring.
...thanks, everyone. It's so exciting watching spring unfurl. I can't wait until this summer when all the reptiles are out and about! :-)
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