This harmless little fellow, a garter snake, is not the actual former owner of the snakeskin shown in image #4. The skin came from a four-and-a-half foot long red boa constrictor.
If you have a pet snake or are familiar with them, you probably knew right away that you were looking at a discarded snakeskin when you saw image #4. The animal periodically sheds its skin as it grows, and the old skin gets left behind. This one was allowed to dry before it was photographed.
A discarded snakeskin is actually turned inside out as it peels off the animal's body. We're looking at the inside of it here.
This snake is closer in size to the one that left its discarded skin behind for us to photograph. Many people feel that snakes make excellent, even affectionate, pets.
You want to be careful that an overly-affectionate pet snake doesn't become too attached to you.
For tips on photographing wild animals, click here. For pet photography pointers, click here. And for some great tips on photographing snakes in the wild, click here, on Photographing snakes.
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