On July 9^th someone brought us 6 snake eggs. He had found them next to an almost 5’ shed of an Eastern Fox Snake, also known as a Pine Snake. His wife took one look at the shed and declared the eggs had to go!

We know that snakes lay their eggs and move along. There wasn’t any guarantee that the eggs brought in to be incubated belonged to the snake who gifted the property owners with her shed. But we were grateful that the husband brought us the eggs to incubate rather than destroying them.

When 5 of the 6 eggs hatched on July 30^th we were surprised. They were definitely NOT Fox Snakes. But what kind of snakes were they?

Only about ½ of Wisconsin snakes lay eggs outside their body. The others are known as live-bearers. This allowed us to narrow down and eliminate some likely common species such as garter snakes and red-bellied snakes immediately.

In looking at their color, they certainly resembled adult North American (Blue) Racers. That species is declining and not generally found in this geographical area. But if people bring in mulch and other garden enhancing items, wildlife of many forms can hitch a ride with them. Further research, though, revealed North American Racers are spotted at hatching and lose their spots as they mature.

Mark has hatched out many snake eggs, including at least 50 smooth green snakes. That species was dismissed quickly because they weren’t green. We were starting to get stumped and concerned maybe something not from the area had been unknowingly transported here. Meanwhile, these babies needed to start eating!

To save time, we reached out to a snake expert.

Looking closely at the scales, they were determined to be smooth and not keeled.

Keeled scales have a raised ridge running lengthwise down the center of the scale.

Smooth scales do not have this ridge, making the surface able to reflect light. This gives them a smooth, glossy, iridescent appearance.

This brought us back to the Smooth Green Snake we had ruled out. Turns out, despite Mark having hatched out 50+ Smooth Green Snakes that hatched out bright green, there is a buff/brown color phase.

Now knowing these were smooth green snakes, they were able to be released immediately. Number six hatched also and was released the following day.

Even seasoned rehabbers learn new things!