Crafty Northern Water "Stick"...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation. Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made."

Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon is a species of large, nonvenomous, common snake in the Colubridae family that is native to North America. Walton County, Georgia.

​​Monday, 12:40 PM - I always consider it “my lucky day” when I discover or stumble upon a reptile, particularly a snake. This afternoon, the sun was sending warm rays through the cool, partly cloudy sky and presenting a beautiful sixty-one-degree fall day. I left the confines of my office at lunch break and was planning a short stroll up to the pond. But not even 50 feet out the back door of my office, I spied an odd looking “stick” laying across the access road. 

Sure enough, it was my lucky day! This cunning “stick” was about two-and-a-half feet long. The base color was a rich copper, broken by dark-edged bands of burgundy. Examining from a distance, and with a heightened level of excitement which sometimes lends to fantasy rather than deliberate investigation, the copper color and saddle-like bands toward the front of the snake had me thinking I had stumbled upon what I had been desiring to encounter all summer: a Copperhead. But making a more calm, closer examination down the length of the body, I could see the bands breaking up toward the back half of the body indicating one thing: Nerodia sipedon, Northern Watersnake.

Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon is a species of large, nonvenomous, common snake in the Colubridae family that is native to North America. Walton County, Georgia.

There are several species of Nerodia found in Georgia. They typically inhabit a variety of aquatic habitats such as ponds, lakes, marshes, rivers and streams and  primarily feed on amphibians and fish. They are often seen basking on banks of rivers or ponds or craftily hang out on branches overhanging the water. ​​

Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon is a species of large, nonvenomous, common snake in the Colubridae family that is native to North America. Walton County, Georgia.

Noticing that his initial relaxed position was now tensing into slight curves along his body, I knew he too had seen me.  I raised my camera to get a few shots from a distance should he quickly shoot off either side of the road into the edge of the woods or into the pond.  But there he lay, subtle as can be, not moving an inch, except for the gradual tensing of his muscles.  I was able to walk quite close by and made a loop around him to the edge of the road where I could squat and get some eye-level photographs. He lay perfectly still, perhaps repeating in his not-wanting-to-be-noticed reptilian mind, “I’m a stick. I’m a stick. I’m just a stick.”

Desiring a different pose, I approached him and gently tapped his tail with my foot. Instantly he assumed the dreadful defensive position and feisty, aggressive attitude by which this species, and most watersnakes, are known. He assumed the most perfect coil giving him the advantage of maximum striking distance. His body flattened out, making him appear much more heavy bodied and Cottonmouth-ish. 
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After a few calculated and precise strikes at my boot and leg, he decided retreat was in order and quickly shot his way down the bank, winding toward the pond where, diving into the water, he disappeared into the watery vegetation on the edge of the pond. No doubt he will be back out again on another warm day, craftily disguised as a stick on the bank of the pond. Truly, it was my lucky day.