Western Fox Snake

This western fox snake (Elaphe vulpine) are common in river and stream valleys like the Skunk River Greenbelt  where I found this confident reptile!  This snake is a valuable consumer of rodents and kills its pray by constricting.  Young western fox snakes feed on frogs (this one was hunting frogs) or young mice.  Adults have been know to eat birds and their eggs out of nests.