Water snake, Amos

Today was travel day to return Stasia home to New Hampshire so there was no time for photography—a very rare occurrence. This shot was from yesterday: a capture of a three-foot-long Water Snake that I didn't tell anyone about for strategic reasons. This large serpent, which I discovered sunning itself in the grasses by the fishing dock about 50 feet from the swimming area, can be a terror. Folks around here often call Nerodia sipedon a "water moccasin" and adamantly refuse to believe that this snake is not the venomous denizen of southeastern swamps. (The true "cottonmouth" gets no closer to us than southeastern Virginia.) That said, our water snake can be aggressive when mishandled, and I've seen them get downright nasty when a person is in their way, so I was very glad when the reptile I surprised simply slithered into the water and headed away from the splashing kids.