No, this is not a photo of a Ribbonsnake. Nor is this a photo of a snake by a tree, as you can see. This is a photo of an adult Eastern Ratsnake, which goes by other common names (rat snake, mountain black snake, black chicken snake--and the list goes on), resting in a tree near my house. Incidentally, I took this photo last year, when I saw a lot of these snakes on my property.
But this year, I just saw my first snake, which happened to be an adult Common Ribbonsnake. Or was it a Garter Snake? I do believe it was a Ribbonsnake, only I am not certain that it had a long lizard-like tail. I do not know how common these snakes are in this area, but I do not recall ever having seen one before this afternoon. I was certainly startled to see it by the small tree I was watering, especially since the coiled snake was a mere few inches from my feet. I probably never would have noticed it, if the snake had not decided to escape quickly into the wild raspberry bushes surrounding my little tree. (A note: today is the first time this summer that I have worn shoes instead of sandals; all week long, I had a feeling that I should not be wearing sandals while watering my special tree on the hillside. A premonition? Or was it common sense warning me that I can always accidentally step on some creature in the grass?)
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