This specimen was caught just today, 4/11/09 at 11 o'clock or so. Some of us, including myself, walked right by it. It was not until one of the teachers said something and managed to place his feet gently on top of the snake so that it would not 'race' off. The snake is a coluber constrictor or commonly known as the Black Racer. He was not happy about getting caught at all and put up a slight fight until our professor got a stick and was able to finally pick up the snake. The day was beautiful, 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit and partly cloudy, it was a good day to go see some wildlife at Meeman. Earlier we did see a mother opossom and her babies but that is not a herp at all. We did let the snake go and we were going to take pictures of it on the ground but it raced off before we could do anything. Those things move fast! Did not really even move in the typical serpentine way, just raced off in an almost straight line. These snakes usually eat frogs, toads, small mammals, and other small creatures. He was quite big actually. Nearly 4 or 5 feet in length and had a few battle scars. Good luck to the snake on continuing to survive all the dangers of the wild.
Rebecca
University of Memphis
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