Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Tiny Snakes

I took a bike ride down to Tifft Nature Preserve today to scout out some photo locations, along the way I came across two snakes in the space of five minutes, which, for me, is unusual. I looked through my reptile guide books and a little on line but I still have not positively identified either snake.

I came across this 8 inch snake on the gravel road into the Preserve, I ended up moving it with a stick (Crocodile hunter style) because it was in danger of getting run over.

This is a cropped close up, I could have gone closer but I was uncomfortable about having the snake strike at the lens, it would have been harmless but unnerving

The second snake was probably only about a foot long, I spotted it swimming in the water. It's difficult to see at this size (click to enlarge) but the snake's body is submerged, only the head is above water.

I nudged the snake with a stick so I could see it swim (I suppose that was selfish and probably against the guidelines of the Preserve, sorry), it ended up swimming a little ways and sticking its head under a rock, it seemed to think it was hiding, not too smart.

This cropped close up of the head underwater clearly shows the serpent's forked tongue.

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