this is certainly not a shot at you. I was of the understanding that this was a story told to you - one you did not yourself experience. i recognize that there are plenty of snakes who climb, ratsnakes, racers and corns are all excellent climbers. green snakes, garters, ribbons and even some water snakes are adept in the branches. but as far as climbers go, hogs and pits are probably the worst climbers (even after rattlesnakes) and the loudest hissers by ALOT. they're also the only ones with nicknames like puff adder or bullsnake.
even if your source is a naturalist, unless he/she is an expert or a member of the herping culture - if that person forgot the name its also possible they misidentified the snake. my mentor has a phd in (pine-barrens based) ecology and my modest herp identification skills dwarf his own.
this is in no way an attack at you or your source, its simply my reflecting on my experience of almost EVERY story involving a snake having exaggeration or misidentification of some sort. i also recognize that this often reflects poorly on snakes in general and eventually results in much senseless killing of snakes. in this sense i always try to bring up this point in an effort to battle the overwhelming bad rumors present about these animals. ones that result on harmless snakes being shot instead of relocated.
