Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo #1?
The answer to last week’s mystery is rough green snake, Opheodrys aestivus, pictured in photo #2.
The beautiful rough green snake is a gentle snake with a pleasant disposition. Called “rough” because their scales stand out at a slight angle, these snakes are agile and skilled climbers.
Rough green snakes are excellent swimmers, often using the water to escape predators.
They lay four to twelve very elongated, sticky eggs under a flat stone or log. The babies hatch in early fall, and look like miniature adults, but their color is less vividly green.
Rough green snakes are gentle when handled and non-venomous. They spend the majority of their time hunting for insects, spiders, and other invertebrates in vegetation well above the ground.
Adkins Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy and Adkins Arboretum. For more information go here.
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