Way to go Robin . . . that is exactly what it is. A pit viper of the copper
head variety.
Now for the story . . .
I just got back from a brief road trip from Houston, Texas to Golden,
Colorado. Left Thursday morning and returned this evening. Pulled a trailer
with
a bit of furniture on the way up and came back sans the trailer. Any
Zuikoheads out there with daughters will understand the program. Those with
daughters and granddaughters will even have a better understanding.
The real point of this is that I've spent about 36 hours in the car with my
bride doing what we both enjoy doing . . . talking and observing the
scenery. I always look forward to getting to the area around Raton Pass as
that is
when you really start seeing the mountains and the antelope. This trip
didn't disappoint. There are herds of them (both antelopes and mountains) in
northern New Mexico and on into Colorado.
After helping the kids (our 32 year old daughter and her family) get
settled into their new (old) home, we headed south, taking the back roads
where the
scenery can be a bit more interesting. Driving along a back road in
northern New Mexico enjoying the wide open spaces which still had the remnants
of
the last snow storm covering the ground, we approached a windmill and its
watering tank with a few head of cattle standing around. The light was nice
and
the clouds were also great. I stopped the car, grabbed my OM 2S and 85mm f2
which was loaded with Tri-X and jumped out to go finish off the last six
frames. It was a little cool at 42 degrees and I left my jacket in the car as
I
didn't figure I'd be there long. Walking toward the fence across an area
which was mostly covered with short dead grass, I noticed something which
seemed
a bit out of place at the end of November on a partially snow covered ground
. . . it was a rather large (for the species) copperhead stretched out
soaking up the sun. Had I not been looking (a habit I picked while growing up
spending many hours in the woods and along the rivers in and around central
Texas) I surely would have stepped on this one. When I squatted down and
captured
its image, he obliged me by getting in the "if you get any closer big boy
I'm going to bite your ass" position. That made what I think could be an
interesting photo, assuming I got my exposure correct.
The part of this which interested me most, was the time of year and the
conditions in which I walked up on this snake.
Perhaps the lesson I learned was to keep your camera handy and take time to
both observe and smell the roses. That is even true when the rose may be a
small herd of cattle by the side of the road or the viper you stumble across in
pursuit of an image. Bill Barber
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