Preparing to wash the love-bugs off the grill, we pulled the car into the grass after we arrived home from church. I stepped out of the car and sucked in my breath. B said, "What?" I said, " An oak snake!"
And there I am in my open-toed church shoes with a 4 foot snake at my feet.
Elaphe obsoleta spiloides is the species name for the oak snake, also known as a grey rat snake.
The focus on this first picture is a little off, but snakes have that effect on me. While I'm snapping, I still want to know where they are, so I sometimes rush the shot. 
This one did not hang around for much of a photo session.
Thanks, lesle, for the identification web site:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/fl-guide/Elapheospiloides.htm
We have some good books, and the pictures in them are actually more clear but it is good to get another opinion. We hadn't seen an oak snake here before.
These snakes are sometimes kept for pets, but they hold little appeal to us. My niece once kept one, I think.
B tried to scoop this guy into a net too, but it was too fast and had other plans.
If the moccasin had been as active as this guy, we might have been in trouble.
Enough already with the snakes! Did we miss a memo about another plague?
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