black rat snake

I was finishing up with washing the dishes, and I saw a local electric company truck go by. A few minutes later it came back, stopped in front of my house, and started to back up.

What's up with that, I wondered, I paid my electric bill. So I opened the front door and went out on the porch. The truck left immediately. Odd.

Then I noticed a mid-sized snake, maybe three feet long, in the road. I went out to investigate. It was a black rat snake - harmless unless you are a small animal - and it had been run over, probably by the electric company employee. There was a pink patch on its back (about as long as a tire is wide) where the scales had been rubbed off, but it seemed otherwise OK.

I told the snake that it had nothing to fear from me. Then I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures. I wanted to post the best one here, but Blogger (aka Google) is acting up and won't let me do so. The snake came across the front yard and took refuge in the foundation of my house. I hope it survives. Rat snakes are good to have around.