Floridana Alaskiana v.2

mangrove salt marsh snakes video

Here is the low-resolution version of the Mangrove salt marsh snake video I posted on YouTube (the high resolution will go on to the iTunes feed next week):

mangrove salt marsh snakes

Mangrove salt marsh snakes (Nerodia clarkii compressicauda).
Matheson Hammock Park; Coral Gables, Florida.
07 March 2008.
Nikon D70s.

This has been a good week for me and the Nerodia clarkiis. I found a hybrid Atlantic salt marsh snake (Nerodia clarkii taeniata) at Merritt Island on Thursday and then a whole bundle of mating Mangrove salt marsh snakes on Friday. Excellent! Now, if I can track down a Gulf salt marsh snake (Nerodia clarkii clarkii) before I head back to Alaska, I will have photographed all three of the Nerodia clarkii subspecies.  I'm down with that.

This group was incredible.  They were deep in the midst of balling up in a mating frenzy.  The snakes didn't really even notice I was there.  Further, as you can see in the photograph, all three "phases" of the Mangrove salt marsh snake were in the mix: the standard phase (gray and black), the red phase, and the black phase.  Just in-cred-i-ble.

I probably spent about an hour and a half watching them teeter on that log, stretched over a small mangrove line, dancing around each other. I picked up some fantastic video of the group as well.  Most certainly a spectacular sight to behold.  I consider myself deeply lucky for finding such a sight in my short Floridian window.

The video is going to be incredible (but won't show up for quite some time...)

Awesome.

Janson.