Day 221: I had some free time this morning while waiting for the library to open, so I took a walk through Eatonville's Smallwood Park. The park is boxed in between the Bud Blancher Trail and the Mashel River and the habitat it provides is fairly generic, i.e., salmonberry bushes, ferns, Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock canopy, Indian Plum and Snowberry understory, not the kind of place one expects to discover anything out of the ordinary. That's not to say it doesn't afford some surprises, such as this little garter snake. I think it's Northwestern (Thamnophis ordinoides), but I reserve the right to be wrong. In any event, he/she very nearly became a snake pancake by virtue of blending in so well with the leaf litter. In fact, when I first noticed it, it had its head buried under a leaf, making it look even more like a twig. Last night had been fairly cool, so my little reptilian friend was rather torpid. Even when I carefully teased away its blanket of leaves, it barely budged. I hope no one else follows that side trail until it manages to warm up enough to move out of the path.
Update: confirmed that this is Thamnophis ordinoides. Only Northwestern Garter Snake will show a red vertebral stripe like this one does, although it is a less common colour variation. Thank you, little snake, for being distinctive!
No comments:
Post a Comment