Florida Cottonmouth Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti
It was overcast in Titusville today, with very few periods where the sun was visible in the sky. Photography was challenging, but when you’re out with friends, you still have a lot of fun. I borrowed the idea for the image above from Michael Wolf, and used my wide angle lens very close to this Florida Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti). Because of the cool weather and even cooler water temperature, this venomous snake was rather lethargic and didn’t mind all of the attention. Still you only really attempt pictures like this if you are familiar with an animal’s habits. Having spent a large part of my youth catching snakes in the wild has given me a lot of experience with this particular species. This was no comfort to Chuck Hersh, who was experiencing some anxiety about how close I had gotten to the snake.
In the afternoon we attended a very well put together slide show presentation by Joanne Williams about Madagascar, Africa, The Pantanal, and the Everglades. Tomorrow we’re going to try to stop by the Viera Wetlands before heading back to South Florida.
