I was out walking with my sister this morning down a creek trail by her place. We turned a sharp corner, and this little gal was in the middle of the trail catching some sunshine!





I picked her up and she sprayed a little musk at me, but didn't bite and settled down after a minute of handling. I moved her away from the main trail to a spot where there's not a lot of foot traffic, so hopefully she stays out of trouble. She's a harmless California Kingsnake. I'm fairly sure she's female because when she musked me, her uh...lady bits...were exposed. Someone had taken a bite of her tail at some point, it was just a well-healed nubbin.

I'm still grinning like an idiot, what a fabulous way to kick off the day!