We got a shot of my first snake seen on my property this year. My Dacschund was running around in the front yard, and I saw her sniffing something in the bushes by one of my flower gardens. Then she jumped back, and I saw some leaves moving. What a beautiful snake I found. At first glance, I thought it was a Copperhead, and I immediately checked Shotsie for a bite wound. She was good, so I proceeded to dig the snake out of the bushes.

What emerged was what I later ID'd as a Midland Water snake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis). This was a lifer for me, so I was very excited, needless to say. In my haste of taking pics, and worrying about the dog, I failed to notice that it had round pupils and not vertically eliptical pupils, and thus was still thinking it was a dark phase copperhead. This snake flattens its head, and inhales to look more like an Akistrodon, so I still thought I was messing with a hot. After looking at the pics closer, in an attempt to ID it, I realized the pupils were round, and made a positive ID.

Enough of my babble, here is the pic.