planet water snake
You see lots of wildlife paddling. Birds are kind of obvious, they fly, so they tend to hide less than other wildlife.
Reptiles too make an appearance on the water and at its edges... and sometimes, out IN the water... I've found the Northern Water Snake randomly s-curving its way through the edges of the Chesapeake Bay fairly often. It's a non-venomous, common snake often mistaken for a venomous copperhead. It is easy to tell the difference, and no matter what it is, if you stay out of its way and observe from a little distance it won't bother you.
One fun encounter was with a mystery snake wiggling its way along the edge of the bay... at one point it checked out the kayak... "is this land?" It turned out to be a checkered garter snake.
At Eastern Neck Island National Wildlife Refuge I was shooting models (Breyer horses or mermaids) when I saw a disturbance in the grass. It turned out to be two Northern Water Snakes wrestling over an eel. eventually teh larger one won and wiggled off, head held high, like a retriver with a favorite toy. The other Loch Nessed back and forth for awhile then swam off.
A paddle on the Conewago Creek with my cousin and her grade school boys netted a close encounter with a Northern Water Snake coiled on a rock and a kid addressing him: "Hey there little fella', how's it goin'?"
Parenting done right.
Reptiles too make an appearance on the water and at its edges... and sometimes, out IN the water... I've found the Northern Water Snake randomly s-curving its way through the edges of the Chesapeake Bay fairly often. It's a non-venomous, common snake often mistaken for a venomous copperhead. It is easy to tell the difference, and no matter what it is, if you stay out of its way and observe from a little distance it won't bother you.
One fun encounter was with a mystery snake wiggling its way along the edge of the bay... at one point it checked out the kayak... "is this land?" It turned out to be a checkered garter snake.
At Eastern Neck Island National Wildlife Refuge I was shooting models (Breyer horses or mermaids) when I saw a disturbance in the grass. It turned out to be two Northern Water Snakes wrestling over an eel. eventually teh larger one won and wiggled off, head held high, like a retriver with a favorite toy. The other Loch Nessed back and forth for awhile then swam off.
A paddle on the Conewago Creek with my cousin and her grade school boys netted a close encounter with a Northern Water Snake coiled on a rock and a kid addressing him: "Hey there little fella', how's it goin'?"
Parenting done right.
