Favoritos de chemically_cathartic

Aberrant coloration. At first we thought it was a N. fasciata x N. clarkii hybrid but the dorsal pattern is too banded (not stripey) and the ventral pattern is unstriped but not plain, albeit very low contrast (orange vs yellow half-moons). Compare a few other "hypomelanistic" N. fasciata from nearby:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/67151325

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109373290

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70033204

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/67151325

I can count on one hand the number of times I'd seen Coral Snakes on Balcones Canyonlands NWR, but I don't think I ever photographed one. It seemed like it was being chased by a Red-striped Ribbon Snake.

Agkistrodon piscivorus caught and processed at Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Specimen was measured in a squeeze box, weighed, blood sample taken, PIT tagged, and released.

Photo credits Ellen Airhart and Ian Wright.

(Larger, darker snake) My mom texted me a photo of two snakes she found hanging out together while she was watering plants. ~3.5 hours later, they were still in the same area and I took some more photos. Sometimes the larger snake would move away a foot or two, and eventually the smaller one would slither over to it again. (will create a duplicate post for the other snake)