After yet another pleasant interruption, we returned to getting ready to take some pictures.  Ryan, being a persistent young guy, continued poking and peering.  "There's another Timber!" he said.   Sure enough, another young neonate lay tucked back in a small hole, safe and out of reach.  It looked like we were going to be here a while.  I wasn't going to complain - I had missed out on a number of horridus this year, snakes either found after I had left or before I arrived.

Photo courtesy of Mike Cravens

The Copperhead I spotted was lodged in a small pocket, rather than a deep hibernation crevice, so we decided to coax it out for a good look and some photos.    My snake hook has a broad, flat tang on the end, so I was able to get behind the coiled snake and push it out.  Holy cow!  This was a big Copperhead!  Close to a yard long, it had the nice pale southern bands, with the typical northern spots - the Copperheads here in southern Illinois are a variable lot, being intergrades between the northern and southern forms.  Whatever their color or pattern, I never get tired of seeing them.

After finishing up with the Copperhead, we turned our attentions back to the neonate Timber, still tucked under its plant saucer.  It was a fairly large young-of-the-year, a bit light-weight perhaps.  One hopes to see nothing but chubby snakes as they prepare for their season of sleep.

Nearly an hour had passed while we photographed and enjoyed our little pocket of pit vipers.  But now the sun was high, and starting to touch the bluff in places.  It was time to move on and see what else we could find.