Tuesday, November 13, 2012

What Am I?

I saw this creature Sunday during my second short weekend hike in Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.  Unlike some of the other animals that I have featured in my "What Am I?" series, this one should be pretty easy to figure out.

Your first clue in this piece of cake -
I'll tell you upfront - I'm a snake!

And here is one more clue for you:
I have not just one name but two

Far from water, I'll rarely be
(but fresh water, not in the sea)

I live in marsh, lake, or river
Seeing me might make you shiver

Despite my name, I'm not a shoe
You wear to get to your canoe

I'll eat turtles, frogs, birds, and fish,
And small mammals, as I might wish

Injecting venom with fangs hollow
The prey's mine with one big swallow

In my mouth you'll find no cotton
But should I bite, you'll feel rotten

You got this one, right?
Scroll
D
O
W
N
for the
answer....

I am an eastern cottonmouth
Residing only in the south

I would not have seen this guy off the trail had not a sharp-eyed naturalist pointed him out to me.  The snake was about 12 to 15 feet away and floating in water.  This photo was taken with my camera's maximum optical zoom - about five power.  I wish I had my Sony with me.  See him?  He is dead center.
I zoomed in digitally for this shot.  You can see his pattern pretty well.  I'd forgotten that cottonmouths, also known as water moccasins, have a wide variability in their color and patterns.  The very large cottonmouth that I saw just meters from this same spot a few years ago was darker (and also about as big around as a large man's arm).



It was a thrill to see this snake, which would be very dangerous to pick up.  Best to leave them alone.

2 comments:

  1. I guess water moccasins because of the shoe and canoe clue.

    How cool to see one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good guess! Right on! It was very cool, my third time to see one.

    ReplyDelete