Wild copperhead

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:57 pm

It seems to be some kind of natural law that I only shoot captive snakes (they generally take off into the underbrush or rocks as soon as I get on the scene). However, this copperhead stayed still and posed watchfully as I got a number of shots of him Saturday.

This was during a get-together of Oklahoma birders, and this snake was laying in a gravel road. An elderly lady in a walker literally walked right up to him before spotting him. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. I resisted the temptation to go to my nearby car and get my 180mm macro lens, though!

crotermund · Post by **crotermund** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:34 pm

Beautiful Copperhead, Mike. I would have had a hard time resisting the temptation to use my macro lens too. I would have probably been stupidly pondering how I could get a nice profile of his head without getting bit.

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:23 pm

Mike - I can see how your lady birder nearly trod on the copperhead snake - its camouflage is near perfect for the gravel road.

Here in the UK we only have three native snakes and only one of them (the Adder) is venomous and another is as rare as hen's teeth. I've read that our general dearth of animal and insect species of all kinds is due to the separation of the British Isles from mainland Europe at the end of the last ice age about 12,000 years ago.

As you might imagine I'm pretty envious

of the huge diversity of animal/insect/plant species you have available to you in Oklahoma.

Bruce

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:37 pm

I believe Ireland has no native snakes at all Bruce, so they must have seperated before us!

DaveW

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:45 pm

Bruce Williams wrote:
As you might imagine I'm pretty envious of the huge diversity of animal/insect/plant species you have available to you in Oklahoma.

Bruce

Different parts of the world have different strengths--I'm envious of the old castles, buildings, and Roman ruins you have in Britain. My first trip to England was on a University-sponsored trip to visit ruins from Roman and other archaic times. Highlight was spending three days hiking along Hadrian's Wall (up and down and up and down--I was skinnier then!). I love castles and ruins, especially in natural settings.

In the United States, "old" has an entirely different meaning for the most part--We think our cliff-dwellers ruins are old, but they are newcomers compared to some of your stuff. Oklahoma, where I live, is worst of all--Thanks to the quirks of history, a building from the 1880s is incredibly ancient and old for us!

I admit I wouldn't trade our great natural heritage for your historical one, but I do envy you some of the neat stuff you've got!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:32 pm

Not may folks have died from its bite. They say it is much like a bee sting, though about 100 times more intense

. I will just take their word for it. I hit a big fat one about two summers ago with my lawn mower.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:00 pm

They are beautiful snakes. I came across one in upstate New York while hiking in the Catskill Mts. Coiled up in the path.