The Shotgun Versus the Binoculars

"I consider myself to have been the bridge between the shotgun and the binoculars in bird watching. Before I came along, the primary way to observe birds was to shoot them and stuff them."

Roger Tory Peterson

    "Look at the photo I got today!" I practically shouted. I put this close-up on the big screen of our desktop for Honey Bunny, certain that he would be impressed at my skills as a nature photographer.

    The phone rang just then. It was Lovely Daughter. I couldn't get any verbal feedback from Honey about the photo so I glanced over at him. He was definitely not giving me a thumbs up. When my telephone conversation ended I got an earful.

    "You should have killed it! You are going to get hurt doing such things!" H.B. never shouts. But he was uncharacteristically loud. Very stern. I was disappointed. My most stalwart supporter was definitely in unsupportive mode.  

    This is a Redbelly Watersnake. She is not poisonous, but if I had crowded her too much she would have bitten me and sprayed me with a skunk like musk for me to bring home to my dog for sniffing. However, since I was using a telephoto lens I was never very close. My biggest concern was that she would retreat into her hollow log and I would not be able to take her portrait. Try telling this to Honey Bunny.

    While surfing for snakes on the internet I learned a fun fact. The Brown Watersnake, a relative of the the Redbellly, feeds on catfish and is sometimes observed with the bones of catfish sticking out of its body walls. The bones will fall out over time and no harm is done to the snake. 

    If you are interested in snakes Davidson College has a great herpetology web site. Just don't tell your Honey Bunny if you see one outdoors!