I have a public walk coming up this Saturday, so, to prepare for it, I had to do an advance trek... tough assignment, but someone had to... Since we'll be hiking the Babcock Ridge and Henne preserves, two of my favorite places, this journey wasn't going to be exactly arduous, and, as usual, I had a fine time searching out things that the parents and kids would find interesting. This serpent was the best of the best, and while I couldn't, of course, guarantee that the glorious, nearly four-foot-long Black Racer would put in an appearance over the weekend—I really do need a realistic radio-controlled snake—at least the critter held its ground long enough for me to take both photos and videos that I could show off. Typically, all you see of Racers is the rear ends of their retreating bodies, but this one, coiled, ready to strike, and thrashing its tail back and forth as if it belonged to a rattlesnake, wasn't going anywhere. We struck up a bargain: I gave it plenty of space; it gave me a fabulous photo op.