Outdoors

Wildlife Encounters: Speckled King Snake

speck
I was a bit late in getting the perfect shot of this speckled king snake. We were driving down a narrow dirt road through private property, returning from the Preserve when I noticed a bit late that the stick laying across the edge of the road was in fact a speckled king snake. A quick check in the side mirror after we’d passed it showed it moving but I wasn’t sure if it was because we’d just ran over it.

We hopped out and found that it was just fine and had coiled up as we passed by. I ran back to the truck to pull the camera out of my pack and just as I turned it on the snake started slithering off. This was the only photo I got.

A few days ago we saw another crossing Pine Island Bayou, swimming like it was no big deal. Occasionally we’ll see others swimming, cottonmouths, garters, a rough green one day.

Yesterday I’d been digging around in a plot, looking for vegetation I’d missed, when I noticed something moving. For some reason I thought it was a big leech, then it moved faster and I couldn’t spit the name of the new girl out fast enough to tell her to move. It ended up being a juvenile cottonmouth.

Today an unidentified snake slithered through our plot rather fast, too fast for us to even i.d. So, with that snake, the speckled king snake and later a small garter on the same road, we saw three.

The snakes are out.

2 Comments

  • chel

    Watching a snake swim is surreal- once I was swimming in the pool at the condo where we used to love and a snake slithered in, swam across the pool, and got out. Holy smokes, was it fast! I tried to scramble out of the pool, but it was in and out before I could even realize what was happening.

    The other day I went outside to get some extra pots and there was a garden snake (black) coiled up inside of one. I started and it FLEW out and into the bushes. VERY fast. I’m not frightened of them like some people are, but I definitely realize now how they could pose serious danger.

  • Gayle

    OK a little too much information on snakes– not our favorites as you know. Glad y’all know all about them though! Stay safe!!!!!

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