Here’s a very nice garter snake that was lying on our road as I approached our gate a couple of weeks ago.

He was about 4 feet long and I was only able to get the one photo before he slithered into the tall grass.

It was cloudy and had been drizzling all day. This is the second snake I’ve seen on our road in a few months and I started wondering about why I always, or at least frequently, see them on the road.

I think part of the reason is they like to warm themselves on the road. But I think a more important factor is selection bias. I see them on the road because that’s where they are easy to see!

I was reminded of this yesterday while mowing the grass. As I came rumbling by, I caught a glimpse of a fairly large, light-colored snake. I didn’t see it well enough to identify it, but I wouldn’t have seen it except that it moved away and I had just passed by and cut the grass. It makes sense that, living in the country, there are many snakes around, but most remain unseen. As we’re walking by, they either move silently away, or we’re too unobservant to notice them.