Rough Green Snake at Stono Preserve

On April 12^th I was on a field trip at Stono Preserve with my plant class. As we walked the trail near the new pollinator fields we came across a rough green snake, Opheodrys aestivus. The pine forest nearby looked like it had just been burned that gave a strong indication that this snake was either foraging for insects or searching for new habitat. Given that the rough green snake has a bright green tint to their coloration, the snake greatly stood out in contrast to the surrounding leaf litter. The snake had green keeled scales with yellowish belly. Unfortunately, our professor didn’t let us pick up or disturb the snake so I was unable to identify it’s gender. I thought it was very interesting in which the way the snake kept it’s head raised for a majority of our encounter. It was almost as if it was trying to appear aggressive or intimidating to defer us from approaching. I really enjoyed being able to easily identify and inform my classmates about what species it was and share facts about other species found at Stono Preserve with them, in which motivated others to take this class in the future.