Closeup of Northern Ring-necked Snake – Photo: L. Weikel

Grim Discovery

I made a grim discovery on our walk today. Sadly, the snake pictured above suffered an untimely demise. Given its injuries, even though it was discovered on the road, I have to wonder if it was shaken to death by a dog or perhaps even more likely snagged by the claws of a raptor and then dropped. If hit by a car, I suspect it would’ve been much more smooshed.

As it was, I was shocked to see its bright orange underbelly. Before this evening, I’d never seen a snake with this coloring. Its top was such a uniformly beautiful charcoal gray color, it reminded me of a seamless suit of armor.

It wasn’t until I picked it up to take it to the side of the road that I noticed the ring around its neck. It was so pretty and distinctive – this single ring of pale orange at the base of its head, blending with and complementing the definitively bolder tangerine of its underbelly.

I’d already taken a photo of the slight little serpent when I discovered it. I wanted to document its striking coloring. But then I took a few more snaps of its distinctive markings before curling it up in the grass on the berm of the road. I made an offering of a few strands of my hair as a gesture of respect for its life.

PA Herp Identification

Once again, the wonderful site known as Pennsylvania Herp Identification (or PA Herps for short) came to my aid in identifying this beautiful creature. It’s a Northern Ring-necked Snake. They’re apparently ubiquitous throughout Pennsylvania, but in all my 62 years, I’ve never seen one before tonight.

It’s funny – in looking at the photos of other Northern Ring-necks on the PA Herp site, I wasn’t at all surprised to see many photos of people gently holding the slender creatures in their hands. I was surprised to feel a similar inclination when I picked it up off the road. Yes, I know, it was already dead. But I felt a distinct sense of gentleness from it.

It was still very supple when I discovered it, too – which made me sad to realize it had probably died only minutes before we discovered it. Its sweet little face wasn’t the least bit scary or intimidating. I felt a real sense of loss.

Snake’s Message

As I’ve written a bazillion times a simple and obvious intuitive interpretation of such a discovery might be that change is afoot. Snake often shows up when we’re being encouraged to undergo some type of transformation; perhaps a major opportunity to let go of who we’ve been (our outer identity or ‘skin’) and grow into a whole new iteration of ourselves.

Had this Northern Ring-necked Snake been a venomous serpent, I might have pondered whether I was supposed to transmute some poisonous thought, idea, attitude, or belief within or about myself or my circumstances. But that’s not what this felt like.

To be honest, until I started writing this post tonight I never even considered that it might be bringing me a message. (I know; hard to believe. But it’s true.) I was more focused upon simply identifying its beautiful self and sharing my discovery.

Full Moon On Friday

But now that I think about it, I’m willing to honor this creature’s life by interpreting its death, and my discovery of it, as a message to me in my own life. As we approach this full moon on Friday, it might serve me well to take a little time to contemplate what I want to shed in order to move forward in my life. The orange underbelly could be a hint that it has to do with creative endeavors. Perhaps the ring around its neck might represent something (a belief? an attitude?) that’s been keeping me captive. Not poisoned – just…limited. It’s possible.

While shedding is often a task undertaken as we approach a new moon, it feels right to consider what has reached its fullest expression in my life and can now be let go. We’re always in a state of flux; a state of beginning, becoming, or shedding.

It’s sad when any creature meets with an early or untimely demise. I hope on some level that treating this Being with respect and expressing gratitude for its appearance in my life somehow added to the balance of all things.

(T-128)