san francisco garter snake (a natural list, no. 1)

they're beauty, they're grace, they eat mostly frogs (which seems like a whole thing because the frog they like to eat is also threatened, but oh well, that's nature I guess)

Welcome to a natural list, a series in which I (an amateur naturalist) share three of my favorite things about a new animal, plant, or fungus native to California, along with an original illustration. This series was inspired by the common tradition of naturalists keeping “life lists” that document the species they’ve seen throughout their lifetimes, and it’ll run as long as it takes to get through every California native species (which is to say, buckle in, because there are over 6,500 plants alone).