When I foray into heavy prairie grass cover I keep my snake stick handy and walk with heavy foot steps. Both precautions help to minimize surprise reptile encounters.
On our morning outing through some dense Silver Bluestem straw, Cooper suddenly stops and strikes a characteristic alert posture. I catch up to find the object of his attention is a five to six foot Bullsnake. The colubrid does not feel threatened and continues its advance. It surfs effortlessly over and under the golden waves of prairie straw. I manage to capture several ground level images. It pauses to make a threat assessment. Its coloration is very light. Its semi-keeled scalation glistens in the low-angle morning sunlight. I surmise it shed its skin very recently.
© Ilija Lukić 2011
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| Colubrid Encounter |
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| Grassland Denizen |
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| Surfing The Prairie Straw |
A beautiful bullsnake captured well on the camera-What state and and county did you take this nice image? Pat Briggs 1slitherbriggs@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteAll 3 images are great, but I especially like the top close study. You had to almost get under the ophidian to see his under-chin.
I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. These were taken in Curry County near Clovis NM on the Llano Estacado plain which straddles the Eastern New Mexico-West Texas border. I was on my belly in order to get the shot. Even though this snake is non-venomous, my heart pounded and nerves were on edge. When they take off, they moves swiftly.
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