elaphe obsoleta
Friday, May 13, 1983 — 3:00 pm
Conway, Arkansas — Happy Valley
I saw a Rat Snake stretched out on the ground along a dirt road that ran through the woods on the ridge above the valley. Its head was resting on a log. It didn’t move until I prodded it gently with a stick. It then moved slowly to a nearby bush, climbed it and tried twice, unsuccessfully, to reach a nearby tree. On the third try, it missed again but fell onto a low fork of a second tree. It climbed slowly up that on into the top branches, moving slowly the entire time. It was three feet long, black with cream showing between the scales. Its chin was white. Its belly was checked cream and gray.