Snake Hunting Stories
Diamondback Island
March 9, 2008
Story & Photos by Paul Moody
I grew up in the South and have really become a seasoned snake hunter in the later years of my life. I usually tend to ignore others when they talk about perfect days to hunt. I favor the longshot, the slight chance, the maybe days of Spring. Cold weather does not detere me from exploring. Often, cold days hold secrets deep within the tin pile that cannot be found by sitting on the couch. So with the rain and cold winds blustering across the South and temps in the 50’s and dipping into the 30’s at night, this past weekend I decided to go snake hunting. Crazy huh? With the promise of the winds easing up on Sunday, I headed north to South Carolina. Leaving late afternoon on Saturday, I headed out and made a stop near the Florida/Georgia border to check a tin spot. After checking under alot of tin, the last pieces held this secret…
A threesome of Lowcountry Canebrakes. The temp below the tin was 78 and the snakes began moving off as soon as they were discovered. The male looked around 4.5 and the two females smaller around 4 foot.
In this next photo can you spot where the canebrake is going? How about where it is emerging?
Very nice for my first stop. Here are a couple shots of the surrounding area that was flooded from the recent heavy rains. With temps dropping quickly, I headed on.
Saturday night was cold, and I spent the night in my truck. With visions of snakes dancing in my head like sugarplums at Christmas time, I drifted off into deep sleep. The next morning proved to be cooler than I thought with a frost on the ground in Ridgeland. The cold snap had drove the local snakes deep down into the ground, and nothing was discovered at several tin spots. I grabbed some hot breakfast at the Waffle House and cruised around for a little bit looking for new spots to check. As the weatherman promised, the sky was cloudless and the sun was shining down strong. I headed down to Georgia to meet up with a longtime friend of mine, Heyward Clamp. Heyward was taking me out to some secret barrier islands to explore and hopefully turn up a few snakes. The sun continued to beat down and warm things up to around 54 when we met at the boatramp. Alligators were out in full force despite the cool weather and all together we saw two adult bulls around 10-11 feet and about 5-6 adult females around 7-8. They all quickly torpedoed off the mud flats and into the saltwater like rockets as we approached.
Upon arriving at the first stop, I took some habitat photos to help describe the island…
There were a couple of sheds on the island that hunters had built to sleep in that had turned into snake hotels. No ratsnakes were found in them but the evidence gave them away…
How many sheds do you see in this one corner? Notice the size differences also…
At another stop we decided it was time to walk the island extensively and here is what we discovered… First pic…walking up to the brush…
and the quarry…do you see him? Snake #1…
This male Eastern Diamondback was in shed and around five feet. He lay basking in the warmth of the sun. His body temp was 84. Air temp was 61. A young man named Michael spotted him first. Good eyes Michael. Moving around to the other side of the growth, snake #2, this smaller female Eastern was out basking in open view. Her body temp was 78, a little cooler.
More habitat…
and some belly scales from a Eastern shed.
Snake #3: This female was discovered by Heyward under some low branches soaking up the sun. He moved her out in the open to get some better photos. Then we removed the cactus thorns from her body, they were in deep.
and the cactus that were all over the island…
The island was very dry and looked unhospitable.
We traversed some wet area to get to another location and upon arriving, we were quickly greeted with the sight of charred ground and brush from a recent fire. But low and behold, snake #4. Completly hidden from view (in her mind) as she soaked in the sun.
While photographing her, Heyward pointed out her mate resting about 10 feet away. He too was lying still, pretending we could not see him. Can you? Introducing snake #5…
We disturbed them briefly to get better photos of them and to check them out for more cactus spines.
Okay so now I am thinking that there is no other place we could discover another Eastern on this island. Already I have reached a goal unachievable so far in my life, FIVE Eastern Diamondbacks in one day and all are alive and healthy. We started walking back to the boat, hiking through the sawgrass and muck and taking in the beauty of this special place. Thank goodness no one has found the island and went around destroying these magnificent snakes. As we approached the area where the boat was anchored, I walked over to this spot to check it out…
Can you spot snake #6?
After finding this one, I walked along the island with Michael until Heyward picked us up a little farther down at a inlet. The tide was heading out and we had to go before it stranded us on the mud flats surrounding the island.
Thanks for enduring the length of my story, I wanted to include so many more photos, I took a total of 134 pics, but thought these best helped describe the adventure. A special thanks to Heyward Clamp, without you the day would not have been a success.
Paul
Diamonds in the Rough
March 22 & 23, 2008
Story and photos by Paul Moody
I have been waiting patiently for two weeks until I could explore the coastal islands of the deep south again. As Friday the 21st came along I was chomping at the bit to get into the field, and turn up some of the most magnificent North American snakes. I wanted to get results that would stand out from the crowd. I think I may have done just that. Get something to drink or a snack and settle in for a whirlwind of Island hopping adventure - Southern Style! On Saturday the 22, I got out of bed before the rooster and loaded the truck and pulled out of the driveway at 5:45 am. After several hours of driving I pulled into my next destination, a boat ramp. As I greeted Heyward we made light talk about the weather, it was only 52, and loaded the boat. The morning was beautiful with the sun rising above the ancient cypress trees that stand watch over the coastline.
Upon arrival I began to look around and get a visual map of the habitat. I found a large smylax growth and set off…
And there lay snake #1 to greet us in the morning sun…
The searching of an island is a tiresome effort. Obstacles are everywhere and the smylax vines and the blackberry seem to grab you continuously. The Broomstraw and small trees are everywhere, and you must crush it down to pass through.
Then there are the walls of sawgrass that one must wade through to reach the islands themselves. The grass is well over our heads as you can see.
As we traveled the perimiter of the island we came across some occupants…
The goats cleared out for us and after a quick investigation of the nearby area, Heyward was checking out this fallen tree…
That is when Heyward discovered rattlesnake #2
Not too far from that snake I encountered Eastern #3 laying coiled in dense vines. Deep in ecdysis, he was very dark as he lay there soaking up the heat of the sun.
This Rough Green snake was pretending it was a smylax vine, but the yellow belly gave him away.
They seemed to come out of nowhere all of a sudden.
Here is another on a Hackleberry tree…
As the sun heated up the snakes began moving and coming out to bask. Heyward and I split up and soon I discovered this Diamondback laying out near a stump hole…can you see her? Snake #4
Meeting back up with Heyward we searched a area that had a lot of Blackberry and I discovered this pair copulating in the sunshine. I tried to get close but they quickly became alert and started separating. In the first pic the snakes are almost invisible from the angle I approached. In the second picture look at the tails laying together, they were actually entwined when I first saw them. Eastern Diamondbacks breeding right there in front of me, unbeatable. Introducing snakes #5 and #6.
Heyward discovered a BBQ grill lid laying in the open sun near Blackberries.
Surprise! 2 Corn snakes and 2 Yellow ratsnakes…nice corn huh?
Found out on the crawl heading towards thick cover was snake #7…
Diamondback #8 basking under some thick cover.
And Diamondback #9 also in very thick cover.
A small section of Pine forest…
Rattlesnake food.
Diamondback #10 peering from a secure basking area.
Diamondback #11 was moving to a area thick with Blackberries for safety in the late afternoon.
With aching legs covered in black, clay like mud from the sea shore, we headed back to mainland for rest. Sunday morning after a good nights sleep and a hot shower, Heyward and I were ready to hit the sea again. Amen for the breakfast at the Waffle House on Easter Sunday. As we headed out to sea once again, I said a small prayer to thank for this day before us. Arriving at our first island, we were quickly greeted at 10:00 am. with this presence of this Eastern coiled beneath some fallen trees. Snake #12
Heyward called out that another pair had been found and this time I headed to him to get a photo. This is what I came up on…Heyward trying to keep the male from going into this rusted pipe. Female is to the right in the vines. Snakes #13 and #14. What a day so far.
And the female crawling towards me through the smylax. She was in full shed and her eyes were completly clouded.
We joked that these goat skulls looked like little devil skulls, probably killed by all the Eastern Diamondbacks!
It’s nice when in the middle of nowhere you find a tin pile.
Here we discovered a yellow ratsnake that I forgot to get a picture of because as I was picking it, up a rattle sounded and I looked up to see a Eastern Diamondback sliding into a hole under the tin pile. I laid down the ratsnake and moved to block the other snake from escaping. This was the hole.
As Heyward and I met in a thick wooded area, we were both amazed to hear a Diamondback sound off from between us. Looking over we both saw this very large female inflating herself and on full display. Snake #16
It was now near three o’clock and I was beat. We came upon this smylax growth on a old fallen tree. It looked perfect…
And the last snake of the day #17 sent us on our way with a sense of accomplishment.
We made our way back to the boat and headed back out to sea, making our journey back to the boat ramp. We had turned up more snakes in the field than I expected. We worked very hard at finding the snakes and it was not a easy task. Trips and falls, cuts and gouges, cactus thorns and biting flies, this is what it takes to have results like this. The total count for two days of exploring over 7 islands: 17 Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes 3 Corn snakes 5 Yellow ratsnakes 1 Ribbon snake 1 Black Racer 6 Rough Green snakes.
A local seeing us off…and some parting shots…
Paul
“The great jaws gaped and venom squirted from the enormous fangs as he bit impotently at the empty air.” Carl Kauffeld - 1957
