Love Bugs 3: Rat Snake

On, Not Over!
We have a Rat Snake living in our staircase down to the river. Papa and I saw him (her? how can we tell?) the other day, kinked up like she swallowed a spring. The Rat Snake does this as defense: stays very still and kinks up like a spring. It is not dangerous, but is about 4' long.

I learned a very important rule about walking in the woods today - "On, Not Over!" - which means that you should never step over something when you can't see the other side, lest you disturb some slumbering animal, like a Black Rat Snake.