We’re less than thirty days from our departure out of Anchorage… and I’m starting to find myself chomping at the bit for snakes.
When it comes to snakes, I’m a bit of a freak. I love ‘em. Just love ‘em. Every last one of them. The big ones, the little ones, the fat ones, the thin ones. The venomous ones, the non-venomous ones. The terrestrial, the arboreal, the aquatic… It doesn’t matter, really. If it’s a snake, I love it and will probably drop everything to study it closer. If but for a few moments.
Snakes have always been a part of my life. As a child, my father taught me much about them — like not to fear them, but to always respect them. Indeed, I remember fondly tromping through the Floridian and Oklahoman bush in search of snakes as a kid, my Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians always at the ready. Further, I remember most of these encounters with extreme clarity. It’s strange, really. I can’t remember people’s names worth a damn, but I can remember the temperament of a particular snake I caught and photographed from years ago… The mind wires itself in strange, serpentine ways.
Anyhow, as the years passed my primary interest in snakes gravitated toward those of the American southeast. I wasn’t so much fascinated by faraway snakes in distant lands. Instead, it was the snakes I could actually get in my hands that commanded my attention. This is probably one of the reasons that the watersnakes, genus Nerodia specifically, are my very favorites. Man, I just can’t get enough of Nerodia watersnakes. And there are many species of Nerodia. The tactile event of catching a watersnake, photographing and studying it up close, and then safely releasing it back into its habitat can’t be beaten when it comes to my outdoor excursions. It’s one of my favorite aspects of being alive on this earth.
So, with this in mind –as I’m soon to return to the land and waters of Nerodia– I thought it would be fun to revisit some of my old Nerodia friends on the blog. Over the new few days, I’ll post a sampling of different Nerodia species found in the American southeast. I’ll actually start with two Oklahoman species I’m rather fond of and then zoom in on Florida’s offerings. Further, most of these shots will be facial profile shots (and not so much full-body shots). Some readers will think it strange, but I find incredible beauty and complexity in a snake’s facial build.
I suppose I should mention that the photograph above is of a blotched watersnake, Nerodia erythrogaster transversa, a Nerodia watersnake quite common throughout much of Oklahoma. I’m not sure I could count the number of blotched watersnakes I tangled with as a kid in Oklahoma (we lived in Oklahoma for three years when I was a child). It was fun getting back to Oklahoma for graduate school years later and re-acquainting myself with this species. They have fairly mild temperaments, can be quite cooperative, and are extraordinarily lovely snakes. Blotched watersnakes are also non-venomous — as are all Nerodia watersnakes.
The next snake I’ll feature is more of a bad ass — the kind of tough snake one is more likely to imagine when they hear the word snake: the diamondback watersnake, Nerodia rhombifer rhombifer.
And now? Now I return to packing up stuff in Alaska with silent whispers of snakes beckoning from both the past and from the future.
~ janson
Filed under: Oklahoma, Snakes Tagged: Nerodia erythrogaster
