Rat Snake

[Steven Dillon]

Rat Snake is a composition from the Hickory Top WMA near Pinewood, SC.

From my blog The Artist's Story:
"I came upon the subject in Rat Snake while hiking on a trail in the Hickory Top WMA on the next to last full day of my SC AIR trip. I was thrilled to find such a large snake (at least four feet long) just hanging out almost waiting for a photographer to come along and feature it in a composition. While it appears to be staring intently, perhaps measuring every movement being made and assessing risk factors, the arc of its mouth seems to give it a smirk. The high level of detail allows tiny pieces of a decaying tree (similar to saw dust) to be seen on the snake’s head, face, and eye. After allowing several compositions to be created, the snake retreated back into the tree where it presumably came from and likely picked up the aforementioned particles."

Techs:
Canon 5DMkIII
F/11
1/5 second
ISO-100
180mm + 2x
No Flash
Gitzo tripod
Acra Swiss B1

 

[BrentC]

Nice capture. Looks like he is very close to moulting.

 

[Steven Dillon]

Nice capture. Looks like he is very close to moulting.

Brent,
Thanks. Cool. I didn't know that. It was early spring. Is that when they normally moult?

 

[ZombiesniperJr]

Photo is not showing up

 

[BrentC]

Nice capture. Looks like he is very close to moulting.

Brent,
Thanks. Cool. I didn't know that. It was early spring. Is that when they normally moult?

There is no specific time they moult. Snakes can moult several times a year. You can tell by his eyes. They are getting opaque and that blue colour which is not their normal eye colour. That film over the eye will be shed with the skin.

 

[Frank F.]

No image displayed on my system

 

[BrentC]

Shows up for me

 

[Frank F.]

Not Chrome. Not Firefox.

 

[BrentC]

I'm using Chrome.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Nicely done. I agree with Brent about shedding the skin.

 

[Frank F.]

Today it shows. Nice picture. Seems the snake is cuddling herself.

 

[Steven Dillon]

All,
Thanks for looking and for the comments. I think my hosting company had a name server failure so maybe that's what caused the problems with being able to see the image. :-(

 

[Steven Dillon]

Nice capture. Looks like he is very close to moulting.

Brent,
Thanks. Cool. I didn't know that. It was early spring. Is that when they normally moult?

There is no specific time they moult. Snakes can moult several times a year. You can tell by his eyes. They are getting opaque and that blue colour which is not their normal eye colour. That film over the eye will be shed with the skin.

Hah, and I thought that blue in the eyes was how it was supposed to look. I've often wished that I knew more about my subjects. I think you have a huge advantage over us Brent.

 

[sarrasani]

Excellent image. Apart of the watermark....I don't like them.
all the best,
sandro

 

[Steven Dillon]

Excellent image. Apart of the watermark....I don't like them.
all the best,
sandro

Sandro,
Yeah, I'd rather not have watermarks as well. Alas, it is the nature of digital photography today. EVERYTHING I post is protected with one.