Western Fox Snake

One of the newest things that I have added to my repertoire of photograph are reptiles and amphibians. I began to look more seriously at these classifications because of all of the different types of snakes that I have found and photographed over the past couple of years. One of the larger snakes that I have run into on my adventures is the western fox snake.
The western fox snake get its name because of the musky, fox like, odor that they may release when they are captured. They are not venomous and kill their food by restricting it in their coils. The western fox snake is mostly found in the south eastern portions of Minnesota. I photographed this fox snake, along with the shed skin, like dragonflies they shed their skin as they grow, at Fort Snelling State Park.