SNAKE! Just saying it kind of makes you shiver a little doesn't it? Human reactions to seeing a snake range from "Cool" to "EEEEYYOOOWWW!!!! I fall somewhere in-between. Depends on the circumstances in which we meet. Now if that snake is safely enclosed in a glass cage, "Cool". If nearly stepping on one while tramping through the woods, it's "EEEYYOOOWWW!" Success at photographing the slithery serpents has also been mixed.

The Three Forks Nature Center at Sequoyah State Park here in Oklahoma had a beautiful diamond back rattler on display behind some nice thick glass. It just lay there, not moving, with one visible unblinking eye staring at nothing in particular. "Cool." Problem was, I could see the glass would not allow for a sharp image. "Would you consider removing the top off the cage?" I asked the naturalist on duty. "Umm, O.K., but use caution." A warning that was entirely unnecessary I might add. As he slid the top off, the once docile reptile underwent an immediate and shocking personality change. While looking lifeless and possibly embalmed just moments before, it now erupted into an angry, tail-rattling, tightly coiled SNAKE! EEEYYOOOWWW!

I tried to calculate the distance but was having a little trouble concentrating. And besides, how was I to know this wasn't the Michael Jordon of rattlesnakes? Oh heck, that glass isn't all that thick.

On another occasion a photo buddy and I were walking a trail in Glacier National Park one fine fall afternoon when he spots a small greenish snake scurrying for cover. "Catch it" he says, "and hold him. I want to get a head shot". "Uh, OK. Cool" Of course, a simple grab shot simply wouldn't do. I had to place the squirming serpent against various backgrounds with just the proper lighting.

The Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge is a favorite photo spot of mine and has also become popular with several members of the PhotoMigrations group. The refuge has plenty of roads and trails to slowly drive and explore. It was on one these roads that I was just poking along, looking for any kind of photo subject, when I spied a fairly good-sized diamondback rattler hurriedly winding his way across the warm blacktop. "Cool" I quickly maneuvered the old pickup in his path, threw a beanbag on the windowsill, and aimed a lens at the curving creature.

Its speed was amazing and before I could get framed and focused, he was already partially under the truck." I'll get him on the other side", I think. But in my haste, the beanbag slips from the window and falls to the pavement. Unfortunately it also happened to fall directly on the tail of the snake. Its speed increased dramatically.

The snake has now disappeared. I open the door to reach down and retrieve the beanbag but wait... just where did that snake go? I check the other side, no sign of him. Maybe I should just peek underneath first... YYYEEEOOOOWWW!!!! Wildly shaking his recently wrecked rattles, the snake stares at me, coiled, and with a definite attitude. With the reaction time of a mongoose, I jerked my head back inside and considered my next move. Getting a photo seemed logical. With camera in hand, I leaped from the pickup, not unlike Superman, hunker down, and grab a shot. Want to see it?

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Warren Williams has been doing photography for over 25 years focusing mainly on Nature and wildlife. His work has been published in several magazines, including Outdoor Photographer, Outdoor Oklahoma, Oklahoma Today, and Persimmon Hill (the magazine of the Cowboy Hall of Fame). Several of his photos have also appeared on calendars by Smith-Southwestern. Warren is an active member on Photo Migrations and would also invite you to visit his website located at: Warren Williams Photography - Images of Wildlife and Nature.