Most of the snakes that I encounter at my local marshland park blend in well with their surroundings, but the one that I almost literally stumbled on this past Monday in one of the park’s meadows was a notable exception—it was bright orange in color.
I had never before seen a snake that looked like this one and moved as close as I could to get a shot of its head with my macro lens. (During this time of the year I tend to have my 180mm macro lens on my camera much of the time.) The snake was cooperative when I was taking the close-up shots. However, after I backed up to try to get a shot of its whole body, the snake decided that enough was enough and slithered away quickly into the underbrush. I managed to get only a single body shot that has a partially obscured head, but I included it to give you an overall view of the snake.
I searched around several websites about snakes in Virginia and have concluded that this is probably an Eastern Hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos. These snakes come in a variety of colors and I didn’t find too many photos of them with this exact coloration, but I did find several references to an “orange phase.”
I continue to be amazed at the diversity of wildlife that I find in Huntley Meadows Park—I have been going there regularly for several years now, but continue to find to find new and different creatures. It sure helps to keep me motivated to hit the trails in a constant state of excited expectation with my camera in hand.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 