What is it Wednesday: October 27, 2021

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

October 27, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

Hiding among the leaves and branches of this tree are two black rat snakes.

You can probably tell from the bright green of the leaves that this picture is not a recent one – it was taken early this summer, sometime near the beginning of June. The time of year, the fact that these are two good-sized snakes, and that they seem to be moving into each other’s space on purpose, are all good indications that this pair of snakes was mating.

Black rat snakes are good climbers! 

This is a little (or a lot) unsettling to many people, as we are accustomed to seeing snakes on the ground and it can be unexpected and unnerving to see them at eye level or even above our heads! However, in Pennsylvania, snakes in trees are not a danger to people - when they’re in a tree snakes are generally out of our reach, uninterested in us, and not somewhere that we could accidentally step on or harm them or where they could get into a building where we don’t want them. (At Lutherlyn, we don’t have any venomous snakes, so as long as we give them a little space we never need to worry when we see snakes.) 

This makes them a perfect Halloween “fright” - something that instinctively makes the heart beat a little faster but is not actually dangerous to you, and also is beautiful and fascinating! For more on how LEEP can help you transform your view of nature from fearful to fascinating, through school field trips, Saturday Safaris, summer camp, retreats and more, check out www.Lutherlyn.com/ee.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!