Howdy everyone! Sorry, but I have to start with a brag. You’ve already read numerous agility accolades on Raven, our middle and smallest Poodle. He also happens to be my dog which may account for some of that boasting. Ruger on the other hand is still dealing with “Puppy Brain” and as I like to say..he’s the cute one (and officially Linda’s dog). Well, guess who became a star over the weekend!?!
Just a quick background, Ruger comes from a performance breeder out of NY, strong, too smart for his age and from day one..QUICK. Those are perfect for the agility ring as long as he’s “listening”. Unfortunately, he is still learning that element and if he manages to get ahead of Linda, the Poodle Finger (Linda’s term) comes out and that dog takes any obstacle his eyes lock onto. Imagine a little kid hopped up on Pixie Stix on Christmas morning. The laughter that causes from the crowd just eggs him on. Well, we found his calling – Fast CAT – basically a 100 yard dash event and this weekend was his first competition. Holy smokes, we had no idea he would take to this so well. We tried a few “fun runs” at performance weekends we were at and he seemed to like it. In his first official 4 runs last weekend, he ran an 11.214 s, 11.017 s, 11.0 s then a draw dropping 10.528 s (or 19.43 mph). I need to get to today’s feature, but I can definitely say our little Ruger is still cute..but now we can confirm FAST. Well done little buddy.
We here at Intrigued do our very best to bring you interesting creatures to enjoy and if we are lucky, maybe an interesting story or minimally some background to add a bit of educational context. To do that, we generally need to know what we are looking at..well, at least when it comes to post time. In the field we shoot every damn thing that moves hehehe.
Hit the jump if you want to learn more about whatever this is!
Luckily we are pretty good at ID’ing our feathered friends and we can usually hold our own with cute Bunnies, a few of the easier Butterflies and most mammals with the exception of those zoo exotics. From there, we can do some research if needed to splice in some interesting behaviors and fun facts. There is at least one glaring exception and that is SNAKES. For one, we have to stealth research because if Linda sees one of those on our computer screens, the rest of the night is shot trying to get her calmed down. Another issue is variability in their coloring and, to the uneducated (like us), there appears to just be three categories of snakes that every snake in the world can be lumped into – solid, banded and striped.
It isn’t long before I’m stuck in a research Rabbit hole – “Got it, it’s a perfect match for this reference shot..wait, hold on, crap, it also looks like that other reference shot, you have got to be kidding me, this website says it can lose its stripes as it gets older, maybe I will look for ‘brown snake with bands’, this is insane, there are hundreds of options that come back, crap I hear Linda coming, quick image search for cute Bunnies”. Eventually I get so frustrated I throw the pictures back on the queue and go find a bird to feature.
This particular series comes to you from an encounter at Chain O’ Lakes State Park in Spring Grove, IL (link here). Ron and I happened to be standing on a dock in Turner Lake (link here) when I noticed an interesting ripple in the water some ways out. As much as I complain about trying to figure out what a particular specimen is called, I do enjoy photographing them …from a distance of course.
This ripple was meandering a bit, but still kept along a vector directly towards us. I brought Ron on target and we began snapping shots – one eye on Mr. Slither and the other on the getaway path as it seemed a little too intentional in its navigation. It wasn’t too long before it was maybe 10 feet or so from where we were standing. The whole time I was thinking how lucky we were Linda decided to stay back at the RV.
Likely sensing our increasing anxiety, it decided to have some fun with us, took an abrupt turn and went under the dock. Ron has learned to keep out of kneecapping distance when we are in the field – we may be brothers, but survival is a basic instinct hehehe. Lucky for Ron, it quickly emerged on the other side clearly unconcerned by our presence. This also gave us a chance to get good views of the back of its head – every little bit helps when it comes to the ID phase.
This is where I take a stab and hope my wonderful readers can help me out. From what I can tell, in Illinois there are 5 venomous snakes of which the Cottonmouth or the Water Moccasin, as we here in the Midwest refer to them as, is the one we are continually warned about by our parents while we were growing up. Whether on purpose or ignorance parents would typically reference ANY Snake in the water as a Moccasin so naturally most of us grow up thinking the same. This has brought a lot of hardship over the many years for the other common inhabitant of our streams, lakes and backwaters, the Common Watersnake.
That much more common species is fairly harmless and NOT venomous. Note, this is a distinction that has zero bearing on Linda’s deathwish on all things that slither. I, on the other hand, should probably apologize to all the Common Watersnakes that I’ve mistaken for their venomous counterparts over the years. To my credit I have tried my best to distinguish them in the field since.
There are two things I have found that helps me decide between “stay” or “flight”. Snake coloring has never been helpful for me, but the facial features seem to provide the best clues. That bad news is that also means you need to be pretty close or carry some decent glass. First clue is the pupil. The venomous Cottonmouths have vertical pupils – grabbed this reference as you can see that in some of the pictures on this site (link here). Watersnakes have roundish pupils – this site has a very good reference shot (link here). The second clue is Cottonmouths are referred to as “pit vipers” and therefore have the heat sensing facial “pits” between their eyes and nostrils. This allows them to detect very small differences in heat given off by prey, thus increasing their striking efficiency. Common Watersnakes do not fit into this category and thus do not possess those features.
If you jump up to the first shot of the snake, you will notice the pupils are roundish and there are no pits. Based on that, my incredible powers of deduction (not) lead me to believe this is a Common Watersnake – the “stay” reaction wins out. Please let me know what you think and/or if there are additional distinguishing marks you can share with us. We are always striving to get more knowledgeable.
Thought I would leave you with a shot of a cute Turtle that we eventually noticed the Snake was heading right for. I don’t even know if they bother with them, but I can say it came rather close, but then continued on without giving the Turtle a second look. Glad to say no Snakes or Turtles were harmed in the creation of this post. On the other hand, Linda is greatly disappointed in the former part.
Take care everyone. Oh, and congrats to Brad’s Wife (Jan) on her successful completion of the Memphis to Peoria run for St. Jude!
Wildlife Intrigued 
I’ve never seen a cottonmouth and for good reason. We don’t have them in MA. Our two poisonous ones are Timber Rattlesnakes and Copperheads, also neither of which I have seen. But We have several others and the Northern Water Snake is one of those.
Congratulations to little Ruger! Bentley is our quickest beagle yet but that speed is used only when we drop something on the floor. Otherwise he’s a slumber beagle.
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We do have the Timbers and Coppers in Illinois, but they tend to stay in the southern third of the state which is a bit below us – good thing as I would rather not meet these on the trail since I already have to jump at least one Rat Snake on every run which thankfully do not pose much of threat (pretty cool though when they ripple up when they see me coming). I have not seen a Timber myself, but I now have multiple encounters with the Copper – a docile one in TN and one completely pissed off in Waco, TX I’ll never forget as that was the most aggressive snake, rattler or not, I’ve ever experienced. I can relate to the Beagle speed. That breed was my first dog when I was a kid – cute, cuddly, devote and food driven ha. Thanks for dropping by and for the reference link!
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Thanks for the shoutout for Jan. I think she’s nearly rested up from the long and nearly sleepless four days.
Do you know how to make a watersnake? First start with two hydrogen snakes and one oxygen snake . . . (fill in the rest yourself)
Thankfully all we have in the yard (that I know about) are garter and rat snakes.
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Got ourselves a chemist here ha! We have more Rat Snakes than Garter Snakes. Had one Corn and two visit from a Western Fox Snakes. For the most part..and luckily for Linda.. we do no have a lot of the slither creatures even though we live in the middle of a woods. They must be getting their fill of food out in the trees.
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And maybe the raptors are getting their fill as well.
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I know at least one Red-Tail did – saw one not too long ago flying up out of a nearby field with one wrapped around its feet.
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Linda’s favorite bird.
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Riiiiigggghhhhht!
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Big congrats to Ruger. You have found his talent for speed. You’ll have to get him staring in a doggie Fast and Furious. Nice water snake photos. We don’t have water moccasins or water snakes out here since we don’t really have water out here. I sent you a photo of the latest Lowes Halloween display.
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Ruger says woof woof (human translated thank you). Figure we might as well play into it if we are going to have to be dealing with it all the time ha. Don’t give him any ideas or he’ll start asking for a muscle car and NOBODY wants to deal with Ruger behind the wheel. Didn’t see the Halloween email, I’ll go back and check that and make sure it didn’t get trapped in my spam.
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Ruger behind the wheel would be a wild ride. The email went out at 8:17 pm MDT on the 7th.
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AGREED!
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Good photos, really like the rippling water patterns. Must say though, I want LOTS of distance between me and any slithering thingy including snakes, sirens and eels. I know it’s not rational, but, it is automatic, and has protected me a few times (coppers and cottons).
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Although not at the level of Linda, I tend to also keep some distance…well, once I get the shots I need ha. I do NOT want to have another Copper encounter like I did in Waco, TX. Still having flashback nightmares about that surprise. To be honest, I find “distance” to be one of those golden rules that just makes life a little safer. Like distance between trees on the trail hehehehe. I say that knowing as a photographer I always want closer if I can, but outside of that…step away, step away. Thank for dropping in Sam. Starting to fall behind on the blog reading as I begin the ramp up to the Halloween event.
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Way to go Ruger. Woof! Woof! All snakes in the water are water moccasins to me, and I’m terrified of them. Thank you for your tutorial on the differences though.
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Ruger says Thank You! Looks like you had a similar upbringing. I guess it is better to error on the caution side with the venomous species vs thinking they are all harmless Watersnakes, although I am sure those harmless ones hate being incorrectly profiled ha. I’m learning a bit at a time as well and glad I could share what I’ve figured out to date. Some can tell by the coloring, but I’m nowhere to that point. As they say, you can never go wrong with “distance” when it comes to these creatures (and many others as well). Appreciate you dropping by, I promise we do not have any other Snake posts for the immediate future.
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Way to go, Ruger! And those snake shots are pretty good too! I made note of the eye differences between the cottonmouth and watersnake, I didn’t know that tip.
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Ruger says Thanks…or “I need a treat” – hard to tell sometimes with their nuanced woofs ha. The eye tip is definitely handy, can’t remember when I picked that up – problem is, that is one of those characteristics that you need to be pretty close to the subject to distinguish..maybe toooo close when it comes to the Cottons – still really good for helping to identify them in the digital darkroom. Take care Donna and appreciate you dropping in.
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Snakes. Ugggghhhhhhh!
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I know, I know, I already got an earful from Linda who didn’t appreciate that being paired with the Ruger brag. Promise, there are no other Snake posts planned for at least the next month or so…. I need to give time for Linda to calm down ha. Thanks for dropping in Jerry.
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Congrats to Ruger! All those ribbons deserve an extra treat.
I have to agree with others on the water snake is always bad news! I would not wait around to have it get close enough to see the shape of the eyes!!!
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Ruger says “Thank You” (technically sounded more like a woof woof). Trust me, his proud mommy has bee showering him with treats. Although, all the fun and games are over for awhile as he has his agility training tonight so he needs to switch back to less speed and more listen…we’ll see how that plays out now that he has gotten the taste for speed. I noted on a comment below that the eye clue might not be the best approach in the field, especially with the Mocs, but definitely handy in the digital darkroom. Take care over there across the pond!
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Kudos to Ruger!
In his defense, I don’t see why he shouldn’t have a muscle car as a reward. After all, he probably already has a — license.
But seriously.
Four field tips for snakes in the water.
(Full disclosure: I am NOT anything resembling an expert in snakes!!)
1. Round pupils good, slanty pupils bad. (You already nailed this one.)
2. “Most” non-venomous water snakes tend to swim partially submerged and you normally mostly see their head. Cottonmouths tend to swim with most of their body on the water’s surface. Many that I see swimming have their heads raised almost constantly, like the periscope of a deadly sub, looking for YOU.
3. A Cottonmouth usually has a distinct, narrow neck, whereas “most” non-venomous water snakes appear to be somewhat uniform in thickness between head and body.
4. If the subject snake swimming in your stretch of water is over ten feet long – RUN AWAY! Prob’ly not poisonous but may hug you more than you like.
Great post! Love the snake photographs. No. Really.
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Important safety tips for all wildlife interactions. Sort of like “don’t cross the streams”, but better. (see how many get that reference from the 1980’s)
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I got it! but if you reverse the streams and cross them you get mallowed.
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He does have a license…but, we don’t need him cruising for chicks on the strip, he needs to stay focused ha.
AWESOME tips Wally, really appreciate you getting me a lot smarter on these slithery things. Excited about using 2 and 3 in the field, those sound like very useful guides that can be used at a distance. Thinking 4 is thankfully not as likely as it is in your neck of the woods – the whole time we were in Florida with Linda I kept saying under my breath…please no Python, please no Python. Out of curiosity do you know if Gators and Pythons get along or maybe territorial. Thinking maybe if I see a Gator I can immediately rule out any mammoth snakes about, but maybe that is just wishful thinking.
Glad you enjoyed Wally and again, thanks for making me/us that much smarter.
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Reports from the Everglades indicate those two top-tier predators are not best buddies. Stories of smaller ‘gators becoming snake snacks and a Big Al or Alberta – well, they eat anything they want, including a 20 foot scaly string. Happy hiking!
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Thanks for the info Wally! I was hoping a “Big Al” in the area would mean they either ate or scared off the “scaly strings” (love that). Sounds like it is not absolute, but I will still tell my wife that so she doesn’t get the extra frets when we are near the swamps. Sometimes the absence of facts is bliss ha. Appreciate the followup!
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Congratulations, Ruger, well done! 🐶
Looking at the previous comments, it seems most of us harbor a deep-seated fear/respect for snakes, which probably still serves us well. It doesn’t help that most of the snake news we hear is bad. Around here, it’s usually about people getting bitten by rattlesnakes.
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Ruger says “Woof” (that’s dog speak for thank you). He is getting a big head about all these accolades, I hope it doesn’t throw off is running gate ha. I find there is usually some truth or value to the apprehension in things we fear – in this case.. and especially with rattlers, I think it is t our benefit. Soooo thankful we do not have to deal with those venomous Snakes you have out there. As always, really appreciate you dropping in Tanja.
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Congrats to Ruger! Glad you found an event in which he excelled, or should I say accelerated. I like snakes, but seeing one while swimming would freak me out.
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Ruger is really soaking up these accolades – I should measure his head to make sure it isn’t ballooning out ha. Nice pun, it made me laugh. Sounds like you and Linda would get along great when it comes to Snakes. I have slowly become more comfortable around them – at least the non-venomous ones. This year it seems I’ve had to jump over one on every trail run. Problem with the water is they gain the upper hand with me, my swimming strokes need some improvement (and the primary reason I do not enter Iron Mans). Thanks for dropping in!
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