Fantastic Natural History, part 1

[mary_j_59]

"You are not going back out to discover if Louise, magnificent though she be, likes cocoa. Save your experimental zeal for the morning." (Kate Murry to her young son Charles, quoted from memory.)

So, I've been thinking of some beloved books, and real-world equivalents of their plants and animals. We'll start with Madeleine L'Engle.

What sort of

Comments

[anne_arthur]

I'm afraid that 'Snakes of North America' is not a subject I know much about, but I like the post - and that is a magnificent snake. Why do your friends think that Louise in the book is a rat snake and not a racer? The way she is described?

[mary_j_59]

Actually, the iNaturalist people were talking about the snake I saw--I don't know that any of them have even read the book! I'm the one who now thinks Louise is a black rat snake, since I think she's the same type of snake I saw. My reasons were:
1. Locale--a stone wall near an orchard.
2. Size--the black, or eastern, rat snake is apparently the largest snake we have in Connecticut
3. Louise's strong grip. They are constrictors.

As I said, when I was growing up, every black snake I saw was simply a "black racer". I didn't know we had two types of black snake in Connecticut. As to Louise in the book, she is simply called a black snake. Her exact species is never defined.

It isn't always easy to tell racers and rat snakes apart. It was only because I got convinced that real-life Louise was a rat snake that it came to me fictional Louise might be a rat snake, as well.