Snakes shed their skin as they grow. If they grow fast, they might shed several times in a year; if food is hard to find, they might not shed at all.

It is always fun to find snake shed out in the desert. When you find some, take a careful look to see if you can identify it. For example, this shed seems to have dark brown blotches along the back. Several snakes have dark blotches, but look carefully and notice the little lines (arrow) along each scale. The lines are from keels on the scales, so a fair-sized snake with keeled scales? How about a gopher snake!