Gopher Snake

 

After a lengthy and, at times, heated discussion with my spiritual advisor, we decided upon this Gopher Snake, in favor of the picture of a mosquito, which I may send out tomorrow. I photographed the snake yesterday on the Tennessee Valley Trail. The harmless Gopher Snake shares the mottled camouflage of the Rattlesnake and, taking advantage of this similarity, mimics the rattler: hissing, broadening its jaw to make its head more triangular and shaking its tail among the leaves like a rattle. While I am faithfully quoting from my brand-new John Muir Laws SIERRA NEVADA guide book, I can't help but wonder how the heck the Gopher Snake learnt to mimic?

 

Note the snake's forked tongue. Checking another source, I found that a snake sticks out its tongue to collect data for its Jacobson's Organ, an organ strategically located in front of the roof of the snake's mouth that functions as a chemical receptor. Each and every time the snake flicks out its forked tongue, it snares chemical particles in the air, which latch onto, or dissolve in, the moisture of the snake's tongue. Once the snake reels in its tongue, it inserts the tips of the forked tongue into the two awaiting openings of the Jacobson's organ where the particles, especially those of animal body odors, are identified, analyzed, and acted upon.

 

After all that, what I really wanted to say is that the snake was beautiful!