This young snake was draped in the fork of a small tree, completely motionless. At first I thought it might be ill or even dead, but it eventually moved its head enough to convince me that any rumors of its demise were greatly premature.

This species was split from Elaphe obsoleta in 2001, and many references still use the older name. The population in the Upper Keys (like Key Largo) were sometimes considered a unique subspecies or at least variety, E. obsolete deckerti.

This lovely ratsnake was slithering across the main park road in front of our car. I got one or two "road pictures", but then had to encourage it off the road for its own safety as other cars were approaching. As soon as it got off the pavement it suddenly tripled in speed and vanished instantly into the bushes.

This coloration of ratsnake was classified as the Yellow Ratsnake, Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata, before the recent big ratsnake reclassification.