Northern Water Snake, Mississippi River, near the Minnesota / Wisconsin / Iowa tri-state point
Many people here in the US use this long Labor Day weekend for spending time in the great outdoors. Summer is still here in the Mississippi Valley but fall knocks at the door with pleasant temperatures. We used this Sunday for a paddle tour with the kayaks and paddled the backwaters and main channel of the Mississippi River at the northeast corner of Iowa, where Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa touch each other. The only way to get to this sign below is by boat. It can be seen in the main channel of the big river on the Iowa / Minnesota side.
I’m always debating with myself if it is worth to take the risk and bring camera and long lens along. Any time I don’t, I later regret the decision because a picture opportunity came up and the shot was missed. This would have been true in particular today. We paddled trough a slough, between islands and sandy banks in the backwaters and just before we reached the mighty Mississippi, we discovered this well-fed Northern Water Snake on a muddy log in the shallow water of the slough. The snake was “busy” digesting something big and didn’t move a bit while I tried to bring the kayak in position. The current in the water was not very strong but I found a spot that would eliminate all the bluish glare on the water. Just holding this position while shooting with the long lens was a bit of a challenge. We expected the snake to escape any moment, but we left it as we had found it. It didn’t move at all. Must have had a great dinner…