Little Garter Snake

I ran into this little garter snake while I was out walking on the Black Diamond Trail last weekend. Literally--I wasn't quite paying attention to my surroundings, and I nearly stepped on her!

I couldn't believe how aggressive she was. I bent over to look at her, and she struck my finger! I was plenty startled and yelped loudly enough to make a lazy deer look up from his munching. Fortunately, she just banged her snout against my hand and didn't actually bite. She lunged again as I was trying to take a second picture.

The photos were taken with my unremarkable cell phone camera (yeah, I know... cell phone in the woods). I really should start carrying my camera with me everywhere, like I used to... or... not: better to pay attention to brave little garter snakes than nearly to step on them.