Rough Green Snake

I found this snake skin while investigating a woods in Dubois County. I had walked past it twice, and didn't notice it until I turned around to head back in the original direction. It blended right in with the Sugar Maple leaves. Of course, it is just a guess that this is a Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus). Several points in favor of the Rough Green Snake; the skin is in slender branch approximately five feet off the ground, the skin is intertwined even around a petiole, it was in the proper habitat near the edge of the woods and near a stream, and it is well within its range. Unfortuanately, I did not take the time (or think to) count the labial scales. Interestingly, according to Sherman A. Minton, Jr. in Amphibians and Reptiles of Indiana, the green color is produced from a combination of a stable blue pigment and an unstable yellow pigment. Preserved specimens and older road kills are blue. I love to see these snakes; hopefully I get to see more live ones.