Way to go, Wayne! Good to hear from you. Although we have had 3 days reaching 70 here near Denver, I have yet to see a snake. My journals remind me that I have not seen one til 2nd week in April for last 5 yrs. Re: Eastern yellow bellied racer- are they lime green on top? I think I saw my first such racer last spring- Had he not lingered in the cat tails after racing by me, I would not have known what he was! Mary Ann

Ah yes...Lined Snake heaven and full of all sorts of other surprises. That is one of my favorite herping places, but its so close to a metro area and I see so much evidence of irresponsible herping (i,e-not putting rocks back properly) there, that I am glad you haven't disclosed the specific location publically.

A good day Wayne! Snakes are very difficult to find now since it is so dry and hot. Observed an interesting encounter recently. Was walking through some short grass in a marshy area when a small bullfrog hopped away in a straight line away from me when a dark coil appeared with a lot of commotion. Turned out to be a large racer who had grabbed the frog by a back leg. It then crawled within 3 feet of me with its head several inches high and the frog only caught by its toes. The frog was about three times the snakes girth so it was quite a battle for a few minutes. The racer somehow managed to swallow the frog backwards which took several minutes. No camera or camcorder but still worth the long time it all took. A very interesting scale pattern on the racer after having swallowed such a huge meal.

These are both neonate (hatchling) snakes which can have patterns very different from the adults. This one looks to me like it might be a baby Calico Snake (Oxyrhopus petolarius). The head shape and pattern are pretty close for that species. I have attached a photo of an adult from Chiapas, Mexico for comparison.