Great Snakes!

I usually can't resist catching snakes when the opportunity arises, especially the large ones, like this Rat snake! They are usually more challenging to get around and catch than smaller snakes. One advantage in going for the big guys is that they rarely use their musk glands for defence once they attain near full-size.

This rat snake put up a good fight, but I finally managed to catch him. (No he's not dead, I would never kill a good snake like this one!)



 These two photos are of a bigger Rat snake from last yr. He was almost as tall as me then, and when I found him again this year, he was taller than me! (these 2 photos by Mazzou sorry, didn't get photos of him this yr.)

Here's a vicious Black Racer I caught not far from where I found the smaller Rat snake. Sadly, being a small specimen, he didn't hesitate to make use of his musk glands!:(

Insisted on keeping his mouth open for the pictures!