You know it is spring...

[rgG]

when the snakes come out of hibernation.

I was out on my back deck looking over to see if the deer had nibbled on my just emerging hostas, and I saw this guy down below. The deck is about 12' up, at this point, so I had to zoom in a lot, my max 12X on this camera, to get a decent pic.

I often see his, or one of his kin's, shed skin, but now you get an idea of just how long he is. I zoomed in on his head, and it isn't a poisonous snake, just a rat snake or something similar. It was hard to get him all in the frame, he was sooo long.

He straightened out, when he started to move off, and I would estimated he was 4'-5' long. That is a standard landscape log, he is stretched out on.

I didn't correct the shot, so you could see how well he blends in with the environment.