It has often been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. I’m not sure what I can say about the soul of this Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon), but I recently had a chance to take a long, close look into one of its eyes.
As I was walking in my local marshland park last week, one of my fellow photographers pointed out the snake to me in the low vegetation. Most of the time that I see this species, it is in the water, where it is almost impossible for me to get a close-up shot. The snake started to move several times as I got closer and closer to it, but then it would stop, thinking perhaps that it would be invisible if it remained motionless.
Most of the time, my view to the snake was obscured by the vegetation, so I waited and tried to anticipate where it would move next, hoping that it would move to a more open area. Finally, I was able to get a relatively clear shot of its eye in a head-and-shoulders portrait, though, of course, snakes don’t really have shoulders.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Reptile eyes look very different than mammal eyes. Nice shot.
I totally agree, Allen. I don’t see anywhere near the expressiveness in reptile eyes that I see in the eyes of mammals.
Awesome 🙂
Thanks, Adam. Although this was a pretty close-up macro shot, I took it with a 180mm macro lens, so I wasn’t super close to the snake.
Personally I admire anyone who gets even within 1 metre of such a creature. You captured the snake beautifully.
For some reason, the eye reminds me a frog’s eye! Nice, clear shot, Mike, and well worth waiting for.
Not your typical subject matter, but I love the shot you got…Great detail demonstrated.
Thanks, Charlie.
One of our favorite critters. While apparently not nearly as common as most of our turtles, often seen along the shore when canoeing here in central Ohio.
I am amazed to see how well and how fast these snakes can swim. They seem to love the frogs at the marshland park where I spend a lot of time and several times I have seen (and heard) them consuming a hapless victim.
Nice shot, Mike. I like “head shots”.
Well worth the effort.