I must say, that is one unusual scene right there! The snake is an Eastern Garter Snake(Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) , a very common PA species. The unusual part is that it's dragging a dead woodpecker! Garters are not known to feed upon warm-blooded prey, like birds or mammals, unless conditioned or fooled into doing so by scenting that prey with their usual diet-fish and amphibians(earthworms while young). It's almost certain that the snake found the bird already dead, since they really do not have an effective means of dispatching or catching a bird that size. While Garters will eat pre-killed prey items in captivity, this would be the first time I've seen one feeding on carrion in the wild! I must say, you stumbled upon a unique scene there, and were lucky enough to get photographic evidence!

Thank you so much for the info!

Sharon, I have to disagree with you about the usual diet of a garter snake. They are known for raiding rodent and bird nests, even climbing trees to do so. Baby mice, chipmunks, squirrels, bird eggs, and baby birds are all common prey. Garter snakes will take advantage of carrion but are more attracted to a living candidate.

A grown woodpecker would be a challenge, though! :-)

If you had read my comment on that photo when it appeared here on these forums, you would have realized that this was a HIGHLY unusual occurrence. Anyone who had actually kept and bred various Garter species will tell you that they do not normally eat warm-blooded prey and actually have to be tricked and conditioned to do so. I think that many people mistake a greenish form of Yellow Rat Snake, which DOES commonly eat eggs, birds, squirrels, etc., for a Garter Snake due to the stripes. A squirrel is a very large and dangerous adversary for a snake, ANY snake; I've fed squirrels to my own captive snakes in the past and it takes a really big snake to swallow one, way bigger than any Garter or Nerodia species. Those were dead squirrels, too. A Garter lacks the means of killing anything bigger than a fish or frog, anything that can fight back, since their weak venom isn't potent enough to take down large prey and they cannot constrict, either. A squirrel or rat would rip one to shreds in seconds.

I should have been more careful in my description, Sharon. "Baby mice, baby chipmunks, baby squirrels........." as well as everything else we've both listed are quite usual fare for a typical garter snake, depending upon the time of year and their environment. No "tricking" involved.