A Mad Dash To Mingo (continued)
Juvenile Broadbanded.
Ventral view of juvenile Broadbanded.
On the bridge.
Approaching the other side of the culvert, Rick and I both spotted movement on the top of the pipe - it was a juvenile snake of some kind. It had spotted us and started to slide down the curve of the pipe towards the water, where it would be safe from giant creatures in hiking boots. Somehow, in the matter of a few seconds, I managed to shuck my knapsack, and jump/fall/dive forward to grab the little snake. In one of those moments of clarity, in those few seconds when time seems to slow down, as I fell forward I could tell it was a Broadbanded! I thrust my arm forward, and somehow managed to grab the little snake between my ring and index fingers, as it fell towards the water a foot away!
Rick was impressed, and so was I. That was probably the neatest little snake nab I ever made!
Here was a Nerodia fasciata confluens for Rick! It was no more than ten inches long, and had a fairly nice pattern to it. The Broadbanded may be the most common water snake at Mingo; it is at least as common as the other species. As we released the snake a second juvenile confluens wriggled from the grass into the water close by! What a place this was- seven water snakes, three species in all, in under ten minutes! I decided to name this spot Water Snake Gulch. "We just need to find you an adult, now," I told Rick.
Once again we were on our way down the road, and it led across an open field, and down to a bayou, a backwater from the marsh. The road crossed over it via a heavily timbered bridge, and we slowed to inspect the area. "Look at that!" I pointed. All of the upright pilings were capped with iron, and on two of them basked small Cottonmouths! The metal tops were probably a warm place to bask under the day's feeble sun.
We took a few pictures and felt it was time to turn back - the sky was growing overcast and we were losing the sun. We wanted to check out a few other areas before we lost daylight entirely...