Rare Rainbow Snake Reemerges In Florida Forest For First Time In 50 Years
Image via Shutterstock
A unique rainbow snake was spotted by a man during a hiking trip in Florida’s forest.
According to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, the hiker, Tracey Cauthen, saw the four-foot-long reptile in the Ocala National Forest. Florida Museum of Natural History confirmed with the institute that this appears to be the first sighting of the rare snake in Marion County since 1969.
The museum also confirmed that the rainbow snake is nonvenomous and harmless. “Rainbow snakes are highly aquatic, spending most of their life hidden amongst aquatic vegetation; seldom seen, even by herpetologists, due to their cryptic habits,” the institute divulged.
Biologists suspect that the specific snake, dubbed as an “eel moccasin,” made its way to the forest due to a water level change in the Rodman Reservoir.
A rare rainbow snake was spotted in a Florida forest for the first time in 50 years. pic.twitter.com/uKEjvA2bi9
— NTR of Pharaoh Khonshu Heru (@ShangoDjangoNGL) February 25, 2020
[via CNN, cover image via Shutterstock]
Also check out these recent news
