Mexican Tiger Rat Snake

This really big Mexican Tiger Rat Snake went across the trail right under the bridge that crosses the Barranca de Metlac. It was between 5 and 6 feet long. It looks really thin to me, but are supposedly more laterally compressed, especially when nervous. Theses snakes are non-venomous constrictors and feed on almost anything from small mammals to birds, amphibians and eggs. They can also be arboreal and in fact, this one in the third picture is heading up a tree at the edge of the trail. They can be up to 8 feet long, have a distinct neck, large eyes and yellow nose. The mexicanus subspecies is noticeably more golden as adults. These pictures were taken with an iPhone, so they are not really clear. I have never seen this snake before, not even in the reptile sections of our zoos here. It is really an impressive snake to come across in the wild. The Barranca de Metlac is an ecologically protected area with heavy forest and a river.