Okefenokee Ridley's Island Dead End Cottonmouth

Okefenokee Photography by William Wise. A nature photo journal exploration of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, the Land of Trembling Earth, one of the largest blackwater swamps in North America. The alligators, birds, snakes and wildlife of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message

Large Cottonmouth Water Moccasin viper coiled in the Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia USA. Ridley's Island Trail in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 9 2022.

​Off the backside of the Chesser Homestead in the Okefenokee Swamp there is a dead-end trail named Ridley’s Island Trail. Having hiked this little spur before, and facing only a wall of vegetation at the end of a brief boardwalk, I had pretty much written it off as “not much there to see.” But was I wrong! 

Large Cottonmouth Water Moccasin viper coiled in the Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia USA. Ridley's Island Trail in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 9 2022.

Arriving in the Okefenokee later in the day, there was no time to get on the water for a paddle. So my daughter and I chose to walk the trails on Chesser Island. The Homestead Trail is a short loop that circles the old Swamper cabin where swamp life reenactments are made by refuge staff. An off the backside of the Homestead Trail is the Ridley’s Island Trail. Although some maps show a longer trail that connects to the Swamp Island Drive, the current Ridley’s trail ends after less than a half mile.

But with a lot of daylight remaining, we deiced to hike that short spur. All along the way, I prepared my daughter for a letdown. I explained to her that the boardwalk ended abruptly at a wall of vegetation. There is a “wildlife viewing” interpretive sign at the end, but it appears that the jungle hadn’t been cut for some time. But as she was reading the sign, a coiled serpent caught her eye just a few feet from where she stood. With a loud whisper, she got my attention… “Dad! Cottonmouth right there!” A fairly young, thin Cottonmouth then slithered off into the water before I could get a good photo.
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Excited by the find, we turned to go back and scanned the swamp jungle a little more closely. I then happened to lay my eyes upon the fattest Cottonmouth I’d ever found. I really don’t know how we missed it on the first pass. This thick beauty lay curled asleep about five feet off the boardwalk trail. What a great spot! Two Cottonmouths practically side-by-side. And to think, I dismissed this dead-end trail as pointless.
There is never any guarantee of a great find when you set out birding or herping. But the only guarantee is that if you don’t look, you certainly won’t find! So take that “pointless” dead-end trail anyway. You never know what you’ll see! 

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 9, 2022.
 - Cloudy with showers, high near 83 F. 
 - Sunrise 6:46 AM; sunset 6:33 PM
 - Daylight hours: 11 hours, 47 minutes (+1m 54s)
 - Moon: 43% First Quarter
 - iNaturalist observation: ​https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109162481

Large Cottonmouth Water Moccasin viper coiled in the Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia USA. Ridley's Island Trail in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 9 2022.