Snake in the Gutter

So I think I nearly ran over one of these on a bike ride back in March 2004:

I’m pretty sure that’s the one, anyhow: a Spotted Leaf-nosed Snake. I’m not certain because I was swerving excitedly at the time, but the coloring and striped patterns seem close, as well as the location falling within the snake’s range. It was alive and uncurling in a gutter as I accelerated away.

Of course for the rest of the ride I couldn’t help but keep half an eye on the fields as I passed, expecting a vast plague of reptiles to suddenly leap for my passing bicycle.