(Above: Barnett Creek)
I posted about our ride through the Lower Suwannee NWR about a week ago, but the main focus of that post was the little alligator by the roadside.
Here are some pictures, taken on the same day, that did not make it into that post. I don't have a lot of time this morning, so I'll let the pictures do the talking ... mostly.
The young water moccasin was basking on the gravel road. The focus is a little soft ... it was late in the day and I didn't want to use the flash. Of course my hand may have been trembling some. I was using the quiet refuge roads as a place for Jr. to practice his driving skills ... in my JEEP.
Above, a gar is lurking in the shallows, that minnow on the gar's port side is in a very dangerous place.
Colorful natives going about their daily routine. This seemed to be some sort of staring at water ritual ...
12 comments:
Great snake pic. The natives look restless.
Is blogger acting up still? Or am I writing comments and then dashing off without typing the odd letters...something. Yesterday I left a comment that included something about Florida Graham Cracker- so I know I was here admiring your pie!
Here we're in the 20s so everyone is bundling into their warmest winter wear- but next week, shorts as I come down to finish on the Florida house details. Hooray!
So- here's my question: How does that rhyme go? Black to yellow, friendly fellow; Red to black...something-poisonous ? All I know is it ends in 'jack' and serves as a rough guide to venomous snakes. I know you know it...
Red to yellow, kill a fellow; Red to black, friend of Jack. ...so what does this mean about water moccasins? And it's blogger- sometimes it shows me green letters for verification and sometimes it says "visual verification" with no letters- at those times, clicking login and publish sends comments to the black hole. Hmmm.
Yep Vicky, it's red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, venom lack.
Enjoyed this photographic journey out to the wildlands. My hub would like the snake photo, and my hands would have been trembling, too!
"Staring at the water" ritual-you bet--making sure no water snakes lurking about! I accept snakes are part of the scheme of things but they do make me nervous. I'm a city girl born and bred. But I do some arrowhead hunting on farm property in southern mo and have learned to make peace (use caution, give wide space to, etc.) with critters and creatures I come across. And by the way, those are great pictures.
NIce shot of the snake...well they were all nice really. If that was me my hands would be shaking more from the proximity of the poisonous snake than the junior driver. Although the latter would be a close second.
POPatricia,
They usually are .. in a good way.
Vicki,
Blogger has had more than it's share of weirdness this week and last. I did see your comment about the pie so it did go through.
The old snake color rhyme is supposed to be a guide to knowing a poisonous coral snake from a harmless scarlet king snake. I find people never can keep it straight, so I just tell folks if it is a red, yellow, and black snake with a black nose ... it's a coral snake. That will be true so often, that it's reliable enough for me. Rhymes that are hard to keep straight are useless.
Laura,
Black nose, death throes.
Glad you liked the refuge.
roger,
this is just a baby cottonmouth, that's why he's so pretty. As they mature the color becomes a dull olive brown and the markings fade. Being thick is a moccasin trademark.
MoMadness,
The one on the right is a rabid fisherman so he was fish looking. Glad you liked the pics.
ThreeCollie,
I used the zoom and stayed outside of this baby's strike zone.
Okay, why don't you give me that boy's shirt size. I'll send some of my son's shirts to him. Winter's coming, even in Florida.
Sheesh!
Pablo,
Click on the pic to enlarge. If you had abs like that would you wear a shirt? :)
I wouldn't. Middle age is a terrible thing. :)
Umm, Im really tired tonight but I have to say, great post as usual. Something I would not have found had it not been for your keeping this blog. And the green is nice. I drove all day and did not see one bit of green.
Deb,
Glad you got some green relief from this one.
I always wondered what a water mocassin looked like...thanks for the picture.
Your pictures are so interesting and I love the scenery around the boys...it looks so exotic to me. It also looked like a good hiding place for an aligator.
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