f.4-foot-long rain snake discovered in Florida forest after 50 years.f

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reported that these snakes are mostly aquatic and spend most of their lives hidden among aquatic vegetation. Due to its cryptic habits, it is rarely seen even by herPetologists. However, it is speculated that a recent change in the water levels of the Rodá River forced the snake to emerge from its hiding place.

Tracey Cathethe and Rebecca Boye were walking through the Ocala National Forest when they came across this four-foot, yellow-colored snake. Boye shared in a Facebook post: “Tracey Cathethe and I caught this beautiful bug.” The blue snake, also known as the “eagle moccasin,” is painted with iridescent, yellow, and red patches, and has three red triangles on its body. Adults measure between 40 and 54 inches, and the largest recorded measures 66 inches.

These snakes live mainly hidden under floating vegetation and near streams, lakes, ponds and tidal flats. This behavior makes them a rare spectacle, even for herPetologists who study aphibians and reptiles.

The Florida Museum of Natural History also noted that rainsnakes, although impressive in their coloring, are dangerous. In 2010, the Florida Center for Biological Diversity filed to protect Florida’s southern rainsnake under the Endangered Species Act, along with 403 other endangered species in southeastern waters. However, the following year, the federal government considered that the snake had disappeared, without conducting the extensive study necessary to support such a declaration. In response, the Center offered a $500 reward to anyone who could provide proof of the animal’s existence.