Snakes, Turtles, Birds, and Butterflies A Fun Day at Back Ba

[Stormyva]

These pics were all taken at Bakc Bay Nat'l Widlife Refuge in Virginia Beach. I took a quick, hour long jaunt thru some of the main trails and the main board walk over the dunes to the ocean front. There is an abundance of wildlife there when there are tons of people scaring it off!
Click on any of the pics below for the larger version.....




At the entrance to the board walk there was a sign stating that some of the wild life that can be seen is dangerous. Pictured on the sign was a Cottonmouth that was listed as "Poisonous" and there was a warning that they are present in the area and need to be avoided. I was on the lookout now [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] A short time later I hear some screams as a lady ahead of us on the trail snatched her son up, held him tight and almost broke into a run to get off the boardwalk. This is the little guy that was causing all the commotion. He was only about six inches long and was laying about 2' off of the main board walk. The Dad was off to the side talking about it being a good thing that she did that seeing as the snake would chase after her [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] All in all the family made for some great entertainment. When they saw me leaning in to the snake to get the pics they asked why he was not chasing after me and once again I was drawn in to a brief "education" class to explain to the half dozen people that had gathered around that snakes do not really go off hunting and chasing people down. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]




This guy was three leggin it across the trail a little bit further in from the boardwalks..... poor guy was missing one of his front legs from about the "knee" down.

	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

[pincess_wy]

Those are great pictures, Stormy! That little cotton is so cute... I always have to chuckle at how much of an attitude they seen to have.....

What kind of turtle is that? He looks like he's been through a lot!
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[Bry]

Great pictures, Stormy. Wy, that looks like a box turtle. I'm guessing because they are local to Virginia, and that doesn't look like any water turtle I've seen. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Bry
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[pincess_wy]

I kind of thought it looked like a box turtle,too, Bry. But his shell looks terrible!
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[telefrag]

Looks like one of the "mud" turtles, Kinosternon, or possibly a Sternotherus sp.


Cool pics!
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[Ritchie]

is that a copperhead?
it is so pretty.
what a magnificent creature
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[Stormyva]

If I had to guess on the turtle I would probably say Mud Turtle.
It was amazing how still that snake sat for it's pictures [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] It did not move until I tried to move it a little further back off the trail with a couple of pieces of reeds. One of the reeds had been laying in the sun so it was nice and warm and the snake picked up on the heat and lunged like mad at it. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[John_White]

Beautiful pics!
I've seen quite a few cottonmouths around the small pond just to the bay side of the welcome center/office. The turtle is an Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum subrubrum).

Did you see the wild horses?

John
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	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

[John_White]

BTW - The butterfly is a Question Mark Butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis)

John
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[Stormyva]

John you know that area well! The cottonmouth in the pics was found on the board walk behind that pond. I did see a larger cotton, about 3' and approx 3" diameter, at that pond but he took off before I could get any pics.

I missed the wild horses, but there were signs of their presence everywhere in the park [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.