I consider Woodpeckers to be a type of incidental artist. This large tree was thoroughly sculpted by Redheaded Woodpeckers.
This was cottonmouth #2 for the day. The more i encounter these snakes the more i wonder about their reputation. They're actually kind of cute.
It was a great day for field herping. I saw 2 Black Racers, 2 Brown Watersnakes, 2 Cottonmouths, and a Redbelly snake. Also saw anoles, skinks, and lots of frogs. I haven't figured out a way to sneak up on frogs for pictures unless its raining and they are interested in mating and nothing else.
A Brown Watersnake easing out to warm up on the gravel. The snake seemed exhausted.
The brown watersnake is easily confused with the cottonmouth. In fact another person came down the road to do some biking and saw me with this snake and turned around. I told them it was a harmless brown watersnake but they were convinced it was either a moccasin or a copperhead, clearly they were upset when i refused to kill the snake. If you are squeemish about reptiles, DON'T RIDE YOUR BIKE AROUND THE SWAMP KILLING THE THINGS THAT ARE !SUPPOSE! TO BE THERE!!!!! It makes me very upset. Labor day, when we had 10" of rain, i drove behind some folks who were riding around drinking, throwing their beer cans out of the window, travelling at high speeds on curvy, one lane roads, stopping only to blast the snakes they had just run over with 12 gauge shotguns and shoot at some of their beer cans. I found many dead snakes,including a mama banded watersnake with 10 babies squashed on a muddy dirt road where you couldn't go faster than 10 MPH, why do people do this? As for importance, snakes are as important as honey bees in providing the food we eat. They protect the crops the bees have pollenated. WE EAT THE CROPS! IF SNAKES AND HONEY BEES DISAPPEAR, SO DO WE!
I love big spiders; their features are much easier to photograph and enjoy.
A Redbelly Snake. Today is International Rock Flipping Day. During the spring and fall months reptiles are more active during the day time for different reasons. They are actively seeking a place to spend the winter, like a log or stone pile, as well as using the enery of the sun to thermoregulate their body temperature for digestion. Thats what makes it a good time to get out and look for basking snakes as well as flip stones and logs to find snakes that are setting up a winter home or-even basking underneath the stone where they will hibernate. Always rememeber to gently and cautiously roll the log or stone your examing, if you see nothing roll the log or stone gently back in place. If a log is completely rotten don't destroy it trying to flip it, it is a home to many creatures and the snake your looking for may be deep underground underneath the log or inside of it, moving or destroying the log without returning it to its position will expose any burrows created and the creatures may have to abandon their log.
At first i thought this to be a ringneck snake but the stripes and head color led me to examine the belly and changed my conclusion that this was a redbelly snake, though do not confuse this with a red belly watersnake which grows much larger, tanner, and is more aquatic. The carolina swamp snake is another dark bodied red bellied snake, though much larger, blacker and more secretive.
Tiny fungus i've never noticed before.
Sweet!
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The first snake of the day. 10 minutes into the trip i came upon this cottonmouth in a classic ambush position underneath a fallen log. Never step over a log, always step on top of a log and look down to your next step. If i hadn't of followed this rule, i would have stepped on this snake. For all the thousands of logs of i've crossed by stepping up and looking down this is the first venemous snake to fall under my next step. This proves to me that the careless hiker is destined for trouble. WATCH YOUR STEP!!
I didn't mean to drop this snake so hard on the ground. When i picked it up to turn it over it started to crawl so a wanted to set it down and get a better position, unfortunately with a camera in one hand, setting it down turned into flopping it over like a pancake. The snake was not injured, though i generally try to be gentle with them and they will usually return the favor and let you take some close up pics, the snake didn't seemed distressed, though it didn't seem especially alert either, maybe the cool weather is getting to it.
I see cottonmouths on almost every trip. Keep a safe distance of about 3 ft and don't touch them and you are very unlikely to have any trouble with this snake.
4 comments:
My goodness, you live in a snakey place! I enjoyed reading this post, and your pictures. We surely have snakes around here but I don't seem them that often. But then again, I don't go looking for them...
Yup, i'm lucky enough to live adjacent to a state game preserve so when go out back to look around i really see some cool stuff. If i had telephoto lens i could really sneak up on some interesting creatures. I'm glad you like the blog, it's fun for me too!
Saw my first NC snake beside the Brunswick River today with my 3 yr old son and my black dog and it was exhilarating because I didn't know how any of us were going to react. Nor did I know what I was "supposed" to do. Thanks for your posting. I couldn't wait to walk back and check the species. Now I know it was a cottonmouth. Not remarkable in length but thick. Its head triangular. We were beside a small inlet of water admiring the fallen trees and enjoying the warm day in a place where people don't go. My dog had just returned from wandering off in the woods after a lot of calling for him and the snake appeared then almost out of nowhere and inches away. I was nervous because I didn't know what I'd do if my son or dog went toward it and the snake separated me from them. I was walking with a stick to make our trail wider and I think that'll be a good idea from now on! We all froze looking at each other and the snake coiled and hissed - mostly it seemed to be warning the dog to back off - then it squiggled into the water and did an impressive coiled pose like a water ballet with its head out and mouth open hissing before it swished off into the water. We were delighted! I asked my son if he was scared of the snake and he said no cheerfully, but we sure walked home through the wet woods with vigilance.
Sounds exciting, i'm glad the cottonmouth was pleasant. Be sure to walk with caution and maybe use some boots because there are many poisonous snakes in your area, including the cottonmouth.
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