antonsrkn
Bothrops
Fer-De-Lance (Bothrops atrox) - Cordillera Escalera Conservation Area, Peru
Bothrops atrox is the scariest snake out here and the most common. They have earned themselves quite the reputation and their venom is rather potent. I have heard the saying time lost equals flesh lost when it comes to treatment of their bites. However despite their fearsome reputation these snakes really don't want any contact with people and in my experience prefer to escape rather than waste energetically costly to produce venom. This individual spends atleast some of its time along the edge of one of my frog territories and I have seen it twice now, our first meeting was an interesting one. I was walking along the trail that abuts my frog territory, some others had passed just ahead of me (less than a minute) and I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. I was pointing to a dieffenbachia plant where I had seen my frogs before and I saw a flash of snake spring out from pretty much underneath my boot! This Bothrops had flipped itself on its back in order to escape getting stepped on! I also shifted my step at the last moment but im not sure that without both of our efforts I could have avoided stepping right on it! The snake did not even try to bite but instead beat a hasty escape as I stood there uttering a few choice words to calm myself. This 2nd encounter with it was much calmer, I am now especially cautious in that frogs territory and saw the Bothrops in the same exact spot as before, again it beat a hasty retreat (never attempting to bite) and coiled up underneath a boulder where I snapped this photo. The point of the story is that while these snakes are certainly capable of doing some harm and definitely deserve respect, they don't live up to their demonic reputation and prefer to flee. Locals unfortunately kill these snakes on sight, I'm hoping this one stays safe.
A pretty simple no frills shot, I just wanted to record the snake I almost stepped on.
Bothrops
Fer-De-Lance (Bothrops atrox) - Cordillera Escalera Conservation Area, Peru
Bothrops atrox is the scariest snake out here and the most common. They have earned themselves quite the reputation and their venom is rather potent. I have heard the saying time lost equals flesh lost when it comes to treatment of their bites. However despite their fearsome reputation these snakes really don't want any contact with people and in my experience prefer to escape rather than waste energetically costly to produce venom. This individual spends atleast some of its time along the edge of one of my frog territories and I have seen it twice now, our first meeting was an interesting one. I was walking along the trail that abuts my frog territory, some others had passed just ahead of me (less than a minute) and I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. I was pointing to a dieffenbachia plant where I had seen my frogs before and I saw a flash of snake spring out from pretty much underneath my boot! This Bothrops had flipped itself on its back in order to escape getting stepped on! I also shifted my step at the last moment but im not sure that without both of our efforts I could have avoided stepping right on it! The snake did not even try to bite but instead beat a hasty escape as I stood there uttering a few choice words to calm myself. This 2nd encounter with it was much calmer, I am now especially cautious in that frogs territory and saw the Bothrops in the same exact spot as before, again it beat a hasty retreat (never attempting to bite) and coiled up underneath a boulder where I snapped this photo. The point of the story is that while these snakes are certainly capable of doing some harm and definitely deserve respect, they don't live up to their demonic reputation and prefer to flee. Locals unfortunately kill these snakes on sight, I'm hoping this one stays safe.
A pretty simple no frills shot, I just wanted to record the snake I almost stepped on.