Camouflaged!

Can you spy the Rough Green Snake in this picture? It is there looking more like a grass than a snake! It is draped across the end of the board in the center of the picture. Now do you see it?
The most perfect camouflage can be found in nature. Sometimes animals can blend so well with their surroundings that we will walk right by or even right over them and never even realize they are there. Granted it might be a tad difficult to hide something as large as a cow in my front yard but some animals and reptiles seem to blend right in with the vegetation. Case in point..today my usually very alert son walked right over a Rough Green Snake and never missed a stride. Granted these slender snakes do not pose any threat to humans, so I suppose there was no need to be alarmed at its presence, but to step right over it?? My goodness! I think the poor thing was terrified that it was going to be flattened by his shoe. With my short legs, I was probably a good ten steps behind him when I spied the lime green snake. It froze when he walked passed and stayed still as I approached. I do not understand just how it stayed so motionless as it was literally suspended in the air with only the last third of its body on the ground. Its head and most of its body was about eight inches above the ground. I stopped.. It never moved. Its beady black eyes stared at me. Kneeling down next to it, I waited to see just what it would do if I stayed near. After about five minutes of the showdown, its head started wavering back and forth. It was mimicking the motion of the tall grasses that were being gently blown by the Bay breeze. What camouflage! Not only was it the same color as the grasses, it had learned to further disguise itself with movement! I was totally captivated by the show of this beautiful snake. For a green snake, this was actually quite large. Of course, I had no way of actually truly measuring it, but judging by nearby sticks, it was approximately thirty inches long. It had obviously gotten over any fear it had of me as it had resumed its hunt for insects. It slowly twined around the grasses and up onto the underbrush. This snake brought back memories of my daughter playing with every green snake that she could catch. She would "train" them to wrap around her arm and "sit". Gently rubbing their belly up to their head she would have these snakes poking their heads straight up in the air about ten inches. After a few minutes (for us but what must have seemed like an eternity for the snake), their poor little heads would start bobbling around from sheer exhaustion. Still, I never remember the snakes trying to get away from her..I think they were as interested in this little red-headed girl as she was in them.