You never know what you are going to find in your backyard.  An example of this is a snake Beverly Castleberry recently encountered a couple of weeks ago in her yard. 

       This snake was black and measured roughly three feet long. Although it looked like a black rat snake, the snake’s skin appeared to be braided. (Zoom in on the photo to see the kinks). 

 Soon after making her discovery, Beverly sent me a picture of this unusual snake.  After examining the picture, I was certain I had never seen anything like it. 

       As it turned out, the snake was indeed a black rat snake.  What made it appear so different is it was exhibiting a behavior called kinking.  The black rat snake is one of several snakes that assume this bizarre posture.  When threatened, rat snakes sometimes don this folded or braided pose as a form of camouflage.  Supposedly, to a potential predator, a kinked snake looks like nothing more than a stick, and will pass on by without attacking the motionless reptile.

       Thanks Beverly for sharing your experience and picture with other backyard wildlife enthusiasts.