agkistrodon piscivorus
Wednesday, September 7, 2022 — 7:52 am
Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas
I was driving along a gravel road that ran between a water channel and a swamp when I saw a snake lying in the road. It was small — not more than six-inches long. I could tell it was banded, and I suspected right away that it was a Cottonmouth. I straddled it with my tires, stopped about 10 yards further along the road, and got out of the car.
The snake didn’t move. I could tell by the fat body and the shape of the head that it was a pit viper, and therefore, poisonous. There was tall grass not a foot away, but it made no move to escape. It just laid there with its head slightly raised. I tossed some gravel at it to see if it was alive, and it swiveled its head and opened its mouth. But in the five minutes I was there, that’s the only movement I saw.
I kept at least three feet away as I walked around it taking pictures. It was still there when I got back in the car and drove on. I parked about half a mile down the road and walked back, birding as I went. The snake had left the road, and I didn’t see it again.
Although it was so small that there was little chance of being bitten unless I foolishly attempted to pick it up, I knew it was still very dangerous. And it made me realize that there were much larger ones around.
Update: I saw a much larger one in almost the same place on April 13, 2023.
