On a hike in Harriman State Park in New York snakes were the farthest thing from my mind when this little garter snake crossed the path.
I did the usual thing I do when I see a snake that’s not threatening me—I moved toward it to get a closer look.
Later in the hike we were surprised by this big black snake. I’m not sure what kind it is but it was at least five feet long.
We wouldn’t have seen it if we had done the hike we’d planned on doing—a six mile loop. Somehow we missed a trail junction and ended up hiking a couple extra miles. Luckily, the only other people we saw had a map and they set us straight.
I had some expectations about this hike.
1. The trails would be crowded with people.
2. It wouldn’t require much thought or effort to navigate a marked trail system because most of the hiking I do in Alaska is in trail-less wilderness.
3. Maybe we’d see some squirrels or deer, but snakes—no way.
So, yeah, nothing I thought would happen actually happened.
If you picked up that black snake and stood it on its tail, it would be taller than me. Yellow Spotted Wolf Snake? Mexican Black King Snake? Google Images isn’t being very helpful this morning.
Still, a pretty exciting and neat-o hike!
It’s interesting how our experience of something can be changed/dictated by our expectations going in, and by how firmly we cling to those expectations.
Snakes (& gators & lizards) are pretty common here in Florida. Our property backs up to a nature preserve (jungle really) so we get plenty, including pygmy rattlers – nasty little buggers. Not a good idea to leave the garage door open. Deb (my wife) is always chasin’ ’em around with her camera. Have a great weekend.
Dave
That’s one thing I like about hiking – seeing unexpected things. Unless of course, you run into a large, grouchy bear…
Have a good weekend!
The garter snake is so beautiful. But, here, if you see a large black snake you run as fast as you can in the opposite direction (just in case it’s the dreaded black mamba) (which is, actually a beautiful creature in a terrifying sort of way.)
I love the surprises Nature gives us. And tonight I’m going to be asking Husband the same question I do every time I read one of your blog posts : WHY, oh WHY, are we living in the city? I need the bush to breathe, but I’ve got the rat race instead. 😦
So i”ll just continue to enjoy Nature’s bounty vicariously through your posts. 🙂
Judy, South Africa
Sounds like a fun hike, and the unexpected can be nice once in awhile – as long as the snakes don’t cause any trouble!
I love hiking almost as much as trail riding. Down where I’m from the Eastern Indigo Snakes are beautifully colored blue black with a reddish orange throat patch. This snake is the largest nonvenomous snake in North America. They measure six feet long. It is one of the most protected snakes in our country. And they can live twenty-five to thirty years! Their jaws are so strong they eat turtles. Amazing, aren’t they?
Black snakes are pals of mine. They are good to the farmers. We never kill them. 🙂
Loved the pictures, Paul. And the unexpected is always more fun.
A turtle-eating snake! Wow!
Yuck! Snakes! I’d be running! 🙂
Holy cow. Number one, I wouldn’t even know if the snake could hurt me or not. So I would’ve definitely run away screaming. Number two, I never want to get CLOSER to a snake. I’m like Indiana Jones in that regard.
But I’m glad you had a good hike!
I love garter snacks; they are neat little guys.
Thanks for s fresh reminder to think outside our expectations and not miss the realities around us.
Even just from that picture it looks fast and super long. Scary! Where would you escape to with that after you? I once had a snake run between me and me five year old at the park and I tried not to alert him but beckoned him to come to me. If course he never listens does he and we ended up jumping all about with the snake slithering between us. I thought it was hilarious but hubby was very unimpressed with my leadership skills 🙂
I rarely see something slithering through the grass.
At times I love the unexpected.
I’m okay with spiders, but snakes–not so much. Glad you had a nice hike!
I love garden snakes! That little one was a beaut. 🙂
Definitely an interesting hike. Did you get scared?
You have such fun adventures!
Even if I had a snake book with beautiful color photos, I wouldn’t trust my own snake identifications to know if a snake was threatening or not. Lizards and geckos: so cute! Snakes…cool, but scary. I can admire them from afar, though, and I do think garter snakes are kind of cute.
I have this super aversion to anything without legs, but they seem to love me. I can’t be on a trail or near a river or even in my garden without a snake coming out to say hi. Thank you very much, but really I prefer something furry that walks, doesn’t glide toward me.
My family has this little joke that they always tell about going on a hike with me if you want a snake as a companion along the way.
I’ve decided to put a snake in my next book in hopes they’ll take that as a sign of peaceful coexistence and let me outside without trying to wrap around my ankle or slide over my boots.
Paul, I tagged you in a post on my website. Check it out! 🙂
How about a rat snake? I think that a black morph exists somewhere.
I totally trust your id skills, Larry! Black rat snake it is. Thanks, friend!!
Snakes are another reason I hate Fl.:)))
Um, I get the wuss award for snake avoidance. I trace it back to barefoot stepping on a garter as a kid in shorts and it wrapped itself up my leg as I tried to kick it off. Cut to bamboo rafting in Thailand as an adult and a fellow boater dropped a drowned python over my shoulders. It was dead, but still…