The answer to last week’s mystery is rough green snake, Opheodrys aestivus, pictured in photo #2.
The beautiful rough green snake is a gentle snake with a pleasant disposition. Called “rough” because their scales stand out at a slight angle, these snakes are agile and skilled climbers.
Rough green snakes are excellent swimmers, often using the water to escape predators.
They lay four to twelve very elongated, sticky eggs under a flat stone or log. The babies hatch in early fall, and look like miniature adults, but their color is less vividly green.
Rough green snakes are gentle when handled and non-venomous. They spend the majority of their time hunting for insects, spiders, and other invertebrates in vegetation well above the ground.
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Glenn baker says
Andropogon virginicus which is seen in this area often growing on fallow ground. Shares a love of tired ground with red cedar. Long time staple of Maryland and Virginia abandoned farm land.