While setting up camp during an overnight canoe trip this spring on the CT River, Cabot 8th graders discovered a new snake species for Essex County. While moving an old log bench closer to their campfire ring, students noticed a small Northern Ring-necked Snake. Photos were taken and submitted to a group of biologists out of Middlebury who maintain an atlas of Vermont’s reptiles and amphibians. Students and biologists alike were excited when it was confirmed that this was in fact a new discovery for our corner of the Kingdom.