[at-l] Calling all herpetologists...

["Mara Factor" <m_factor@hotmail.com>]

OK, so maybe this wasn't the AT, but it was on a white blazed trail ...  
That makes it related, right?

I was hiking in the Middlesex Fells Reservation, about five miles north of 
Boston yesterday, when I stepped over a snake stretched clear across the 
path.  It was neither a Ribbon nor a Garter snake and my first reaction said 
Eastern Timber Rattler.

It had the same colors as the rattlesnakes I've seen but there were no 
apparent rattles and the coloring went all the way to the tail without any 
darkening like I've seen on rattlers.

The base color was a grayish tan.  There were irregularly shaped rust 
colored spots spaced regularly down the middle of the back.  These spots 
were ringed with black.  It was easily 2.5' long and could easily have been 
over 3'.  It was a bit bigger in diameter than a Ribbon or Garter snake.

As it slithered across the trail, some wind blew and rustled the leaves near 
the snake.  It took up a defensive posture with the forward part of the body 
and head raised off the ground but then kept going.

This description sounds like some written descriptions of Corn snakes I've 
been able to find on the web but the pictures I've seen of corn snakes are 
much darker and more vibrant.

Any other ideas?

I'm really curious because I've never seen anything like this in the area.

Thanks,

Mara
Stitches, GAME99
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