This Week in the Woods, Associate Editor Meghan McCarthy McPhaul discovered this snake skin in a woodpile. Snakes typically shed their skins several times a year, depending on such factors as species, size, and how quickly the individual is growing. They will often seek out woodpiles or other hidden spaces for this process, which takes several days to complete and leaves them vulnerable to predation.
This essay by Susan Shea in the Outside Story archive describes the shedding process. As Shea notes, shedding begins when the snake produces fluid from its lymphatic system that separates the old skin from developing new skin below it. This fluid temporarily makes the snake’s eyes look milky blue, and obscures its vision. After the snake reabsorbs the fluid, it begins the process of exiting the old skin, head first, as Shea explains, “turning the old skin inside out and leaving it behind, like we would take off a sock.”
The creature in the right, top, is a silver-spotted skipper caterpillar, not a snake, but perhaps those weird orange eye patches on its head give some birds pause. These large skippers (shown below, right, in adult form) are common, but the caterpillars remain mostly out of sight, hidden inside folded leaf shelters. Silver-spotted skipper butterflies are easy to find in meadows and gardens, and you’ll also sometimes see them in forest openings. Their larval hosts include native legumes such as groundnut, and also many non-native legumes.
What have you noticed in the woods this week? Submit a recent photo for possible inclusion in our monthly online Reader Photo Gallery.