This is a yellow ratsnake (or "Eastern rats snake" - Elaphe alleghaniensis) found in the Tiger Bay State Forest of Volusia county ~ specifically the Woody Tract region south of highway 92.
This winter has been remarkably mild and the snakes are already quite active, even in mid-January. This week alone I've seen the yellow rat snake, a southern black racer, and two Florida banded watersnakes. Pretty amazing, really.
This snake was trucking across an old, unused dirt road near rattlesnake lake. This is at the very back end of Woody Tract. Measuring about two to two-and-a-half feet, this was a young adult yellow rat snake. Despite its relative youth, the snake had many scars. Apparently life is fairly rough back in Tiger Bay!
The snake was incredibly mild mannered and easy to work with.
Personally, this was a great day. I'd been hoping to come across a yellow rat snake for about two years. This yellow rat snake is the first one I've seen in the wild in years ~ but not because they're endangered. Really, I'm just 'unlucky' when it comes to finding this particular species!
That luck finally ended with this snake. Rah rah!
~ janson jones.
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