Part 2: The Roads
Down East
After leaving the scene of our mystical experience we cruised nearby roads on foot and by car, keeping a sharp eye out for upholstery. The sky lightened up but it never got really warm, staying in the low 70s with a slight breeze. Despite our windfall at the couch, we were still concerned about the weather. Except for the snapper and the racer, everything else had been snuggling under cover. We discussed plans for floral still lifes, maybe a picture or two of pig farms. As it turned out, we didn't have time. About a half hour after we left the couch I
pulled off to the side of a dirt road.
Ron and I got out and faced opposite directions. I walked back about 100 feet to rescue a
Mud Turtle that was crossing the road (we were to see about a dozen in the
next two days). At the same time, Ron
walked forward towards a wooden bridge, and there was this
Fifteen minutes further down the same road, just across another bridge where it turned to pavement, this friendly fella is sitting smack in the middle just taking his time to reach the other side. As we approached he gave us a nice smile, but with all his gaping, he never struck. That's consistent with nearly all my experiences with Moccasins. In fact, research at the Savannah River Ecology Lab suggests that the snakes display mostly for bluff, usually resorting to strikes only when restrained, and not deserving of their reputation for aggressiveness.
I prefer these coastal Carolina Cottonmouths,
with their lighter colors and greater contrast (especially on the belly), to
the
After we left the Moccasin we passed another Kingsnake, but unfortunately, it was DOR from that morning. Five minutes after that a really big Racer crossed in front of us, but he was long gone by the time we got out of the car. By that time it was about an hour before sunset, and turning down another road we came upon a neonate Rat Snake WOR (wounded on road). He was still crawling but we knew he wasn't going to make it. Ten minutes later we met up with his bigger cousin. As we pulled the car over, the snake just froze on the road and reacted with that strange kinking along the back that Rat Snakes seem to assume as a defensive posture to remain motionless. Not sure what that's about; maybe it helps break up the straight lines of their body to provide better crypsis?
The Rat Snakes along the coast are considered an intergrade between the Black Rat Snake (Elaphe o. obseleta) from interior parts of the state and the Yellow Rat Snake (E. o. quadrivittata) found further south. Note some clearly visible striping, characteristic of the Yellows, and the saddles more typical of Black Rats. Plus the color is a drab olive green, somewhere between yellow and black. Interestingly, on our way back to Durham we came across two rat snake road kills, about 100 miles apart, and you could see how they become progressively darker as you go further inland towards the Black Rat range.
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