On the Edisto we decided to take a break . I stepped out in a murky spot and a snake immediately wrapped around my ankle. I was standing on his head.
Before I picked up my foot, I wanted to know who I had, or who had me. There are a few different water snakes on that river and one you don’t want to be bitten by.
This was one I’d never seen and didn’t know about. A Rainbow snake. ID came later but as soon as I knew it wasn’t a cottonmouth, I let him go. Cottonmouths do not have colored longitudinal stripes.
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I sometimes paddle with a young man with a lot of outdoor experience and I always remember him telling me that “they can be aggressive”. It’s common to have a close encounter with one when negotiating fallen trees on smaller Michigan rivers. I’ve been very close (and respectful) to many and have never had one become aggressive with me but I’ve also never had one show any fear or make any effort to run away from me.
I have heard that the only exception in N. America (poisonous with round pupils) is the Coral Snake, and they prefer a dry habitat to wetlands. Regardless, I think I’ll resist the temptation to look at their eyeballs and just give them all a wide berth.
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That was started by sneaky snakes to get people to look into their eyes. Never trust a snake.
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They will definitely stand their ground, unlike most snakes, but I don’t really consider that aggressive.
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I’m not crazy about how that head looks (triangular like a Pit Viper)
My husband is afraid of rattlesnakes and he yells at me when I move them off the trail with a stick.
He wears flip flops like a redneck.
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Have you ever seen a Mohave Green?!?!
Oh boy they will chase a golf cart and bite the tires
My favorite is the Sidewinder.
I haven’t seen one, but I know of a woman (I was working with her husband) who was bitten by one on Ft Huachuca. She stepped out of her house directly on it. She had an extended and painful stay in the hospital afterwards.
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I think they are very venomous
I believe they’re one of the most venomous in the US.
I forgot about the triangular head!
. . . And a sneaky grin!
Spotted this beauty of a timber rattler a few years ago in a wildflower meadow in north central PA. Never uncoiled while we were watching her, but we estimated at least 3’ long, maybe closer to 4’ (they get to 5’ around here). Per the girth in the coil below her head, I suspected she was resting and digesting some hapless lagomorph.
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The eagle migrations are something to watch often times seeing several hundred at a time. I live near a wetland chain of lakes that is a stopping point for several species migrating. The pelican migration is as impressive as the eagle migration. I also enjoy the trumpeter swan migration.
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Looks like Medicine lake.
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That’s a biter!
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Elmer Fudd would be jealous .
They’re such fascinating animals. One of the things I find most interesting is that they can adjust the frequency of their rattling to make it sound like they are much closer to an intruder than they are.
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My husband would immediately throw up 
That’s a great shot WL.
I never noticed all these brown seagulls in California before.
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First year juvenile Western gulls. Their heads go white at puberty.
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