agkistrodon contortirx
Sunday, May 7, 2023 – 10:47 am
Faulkner County, Arkansas – Bell Slough Wildlife Management Area
I was out birding and had just crossed over the dam on Lake Conway. On the narrow trail that leads back into the woods, I saw a Copperhead. It was stretched out, with its head in the vegetation along the trail but most of its body on the trail. I knew immediately what it was. It was perhaps 18 inches long. It never moved as I gingerly approached and took some photos.
It had the classic fat body and wedge-shaped head of a pit-viper. I was surprised at how nonchalant I was about it. I took the photos, but there wasn’t much else to do since the snake wasn’t moving. I actually walked past it on the trail, coming within six inches of its tail. It never moved. I continued on birding, but also watching where I stepped. Twenty minutes later, when I went back along the section of trail where I’d seen the snake, it was gone.