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Baby Gopher Snake
19 March 2007
Along a trial in a nearby County Park.
Chanced upon a tiny Western Gopher Snake.
Young snakes will generally remain motionless, hoping to go unnoticed.
Moving slowly, you can often approach them.
Any sudden movement will alarm these sensitive creatures.
A bit too close, this little gopher snake suddenly
slipped into the trailside grasses.
Where it coiled into a defensive position and glared defiantly at me.
See how its flattened its head to mimic
the wedge-shaped head of a rattlesnake?
When threatened, these snakes will strike and bite repeatedly.
Though they have no teeth, their bite is like the sudden grip of a vice.
Although it didn't hiss or strike at me,
it flicked its tongue, rattled its tail repeatedly.
Then it slipped away into the tall grass and disappeared.
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