{"id":127566,"date":"2024-04-15T03:00:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T08:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=127566"},"modified":"2024-04-17T03:27:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T08:27:40","slug":"my-lifer-northern-cottonmouth-water-moccasin-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/15\/my-lifer-northern-cottonmouth-water-moccasin-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"My Lifer Northern Cottonmouth\/Water Moccasin Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, I took photos of my lifer adult Northern Cottonmouth, aka Water Moccasin, on one of the roads there.<\/p>\n

\"CottonmouthCottonmouth in the road at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge – Nikon D810, hand held, f9, 1\/5000, ISO 800, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was looking for birds on the other side of the road when my dear friend and wildlife photographer, Steve Creek<\/span><\/a>, spotted the snake and pointed it out to me.<\/p>\n

I grabbed my backup camera, a Nikon D810 with a Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens attached, to photograph the cottonmouth. My bird and wildlife camera had way too much glass on it.<\/p>\n

After getting out of Steve’s pickup, I knelt down in the road to get a low angle of the snake in front of me.<\/p>\n

\"WaterWater Moccasin showing their cottonmouth – Nikon D810, hand held, f9, 1\/5000, ISO 800, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was so excited to photograph the Water Moccasin that a few of my images were basically destined for the delete bin; I was shaking with excitement. I’d seen this snake species before, but these are my first photos of them and that is why I called this snake a lifer. I need a photo or photos to call a lifer a lifer.<\/p>\n

I kept my distance from this snake and these images were all taken at 200mm and cropped.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Northern Cottonmouth on the road – Nikon D810, hand held, f9, 1\/4000, ISO 800, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither Steve nor I had ever seen a cottonmouth this color before. Any guidance on which subspecies this cottonmouth is would be greatly appreciated.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Cottonmouth\/Water Moccasin close up – Nikon D810, hand held, f9, 1\/6400, ISO 800, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time with this fascinating Northern Cottonmouth because a vehicle was coming up the road behind us. I would have liked to have gotten more photos of this lifer snake than I did, but I am thrilled that I took the photos of it that I did.<\/p>\n

Snakes are awesome and I am not freaked out by them. Giving venomous snakes the respect and room they need helps them and me stay safe.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

See Steve’s photos of this snake and his thoughts on the odd color of it here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my reptile and amphibian photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, I took photos of my lifer adult Northern Cottonmouth, aka Water Moccasin, on one of the roads there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14888,13973,13974],"tags":[14889,13985,4142,14900,14901,5370,14902,14903,14890,4046,4449,13136,2326,5785,7145,165,14891],"class_list":["post-127566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-northern-cottonmouths-water-moccasins","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-agkistrodon-piscivorus","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-close-up","tag-cottonmouth","tag-cottonmouths","tag-forest","tag-moccasin","tag-moccasins","tag-northern-cottonmouth","tag-portrait","tag-reptile","tag-reptiles","tag-road","tag-snake","tag-snakes","tag-spring","tag-water-moccasin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/water-moccasin-adult-road-mia-mcpherson-2143.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xbw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":131007,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/22\/northern-cottonmouth-close-ups\/","url_meta":{"origin":127566,"position":0},"title":"Northern Cottonmouth Close Ups","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I was excited to see and photograph a Northern Cottonmouth on a gravel road at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge last week. The snake was very cooperative.","rel":"","context":"In "Northern Cottonmouths (Water Moccasins)"","block_context":{"text":"Northern Cottonmouths (Water Moccasins)","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/northern-cottonmouths-water-moccasins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Cottonmouth and a small spider, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cottonmouth-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cottonmouth-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cottonmouth-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4225.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cottonmouth-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4225.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127632,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/18\/foggy-start-to-an-april-morning-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":127566,"position":1},"title":"Foggy Start To An April Morning At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, there was a foggy start to a morning of bird and wildlife photography at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. I really didn't mind the fog much at all.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-tailed Deer doe in fog at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-tailed-deer-doe-foggy-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-tailed-deer-doe-foggy-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-tailed-deer-doe-foggy-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-tailed-deer-doe-foggy-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136640,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/10\/roadside-mississippi-mud-turtle-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":127566,"position":2},"title":"Roadside Mississippi Mud Turtle At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Better late than never? I photographed this Mississippi Mud Turtle in spring at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, and I\u2019m sharing it today.","rel":"","context":"In "Mississippi Mud Turtles"","block_context":{"text":"Mississippi Mud Turtles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/mississippi-mud-turtles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roadside Mississippi Mud Turtle, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mississippi-mud-turtle-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mississippi-mud-turtle-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mississippi-mud-turtle-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mississippi-mud-turtle-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/01\/swamp-rabbit-photos-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":127566,"position":3},"title":"Swamp Rabbit Photos From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I took my lifer Swamp Rabbit photos at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge after my dear friend Steve Creek pointed the rabbit out to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swamp Rabbit close up, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/swamp-rabbit-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4096.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/swamp-rabbit-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4096.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/swamp-rabbit-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4096.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/swamp-rabbit-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4096.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":130399,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/13\/american-green-tree-frog-images-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":127566,"position":4},"title":"American Green Tree Frog Images From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm trying to get caught up with photos I haven't shared yet, so today I am sharing a few American Green Tree Frog photos I've taken at Sequoyah NWR recently.","rel":"","context":"In "American Green Tree Frogs"","block_context":{"text":"American Green Tree Frogs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/american-green-tree-frogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"One chonky American Green Tree Frog, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-green-tree-frog-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-8837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-green-tree-frog-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-8837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-green-tree-frog-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-8837.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-green-tree-frog-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-8837.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128570,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/22\/dickcissel-images-from-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":127566,"position":5},"title":"Dickcissel Images From Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been enjoying taking photos of Dickcissels at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge since I arrived in Oklahoma. Hearing them sing has also been a joy.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Dickcissel singing from a fire snag, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/dickcissel-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-9184.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/dickcissel-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-9184.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/dickcissel-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-9184.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/dickcissel-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-9184.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}