Lifer 🥺❤️ this is a scarlet snake and not a scarlet kingsnake because the rings don't go all the way around- this adorable little guy had a plain white belly. And an adorable snoot for eating small eggs.
Went out herping to celebrate getting my bio masters and finding this snake was even better than getting that degree 😂 I was looking for coral snakes but a scarlet snake was so much better. This adorable friend was seen slowly snuffling through the sandy leaf litter on a hot humid night after rainy day. I assume it was searching for eggs or another prey item. Didn't seem to mind me much as I was frantically trying to get enough cell signal to triple check it wasn't a coral snake so I could hold the cutie pie. I didn't get great photos while holding the poor guy as I was trying to juggle a phone, a flashlight, and this beauty. What a gorgeous creature. Very slow and docile. Similar to holding a rubber boa or a Kenyan sand boa. Pretty small too- about the width of a yellow pencil at most. I put it down where I saw it and it curled up and didn't move for the next 20 min I stayed watching. Super cool.
HUGE shout out to @anthony_damiani who gave me some great herping tips & locations for this area. I am forever grateful! This is by far my favorite snake I've ever seen in Florida!
3 birds lol.
See photos 2 and 3 for a cropped shot of each of the top two birds. Navy military bird on bottom.