floridensis
janson jones
Lampropeltis elapsoides, 13 April 2020
Lampropeltis elapsoides, the Scarlet kingsnake;
Volusia county, Florida (13 April 2020).
A Scarlet kingsnake reeling around a bit to see what the photographer guy is up to. This species is entirely non-venomous and unaggressive. It is fairly shy and reclusive, spending much of the daytime hidden under surface detritus. At night, however, you’re more likely to find them slinking about for a meal.
floridensis 
This is a striking photo! Almost looks like a macro. Was it shot on a macro lens? How did you get this close?
LikeLike
Thanks, A. I. I mostly shoot macro, and that does indeed mean getting wicked close to many of these species. In this case, I’m actually holding the snake with my left hand and shooting with the right. The snake is not, however, captive. I’ll sometimes catch stuff in the field to macro-photograph it and then immediately release. I should note I don’t do this with the venomous snakes. With the venomous ones, I can often get very, very close — but I’m not willing to free handle. Got to keep my hands safe and functional! This snake is definitely non-venomous and was very easy to work with!
LikeLike
Oh wow. I wouldn’t have imagined that you were holding the snake. I would never be brave enough to do that myself! I’m a hobbyist photographer myself who’s just venturing out into wildlife/bird/nature photography, and I’m truly loving your work. They are so very clean and detailed. Thank you for doing this on a blog instead of just on social media (I read that you restarted the blog recently).
I’ll be visiting your archive over the next few days. Expect more comments from me. 😀
LikeLike
Thanks again, and have fun venturing out! I’ve been hiking and watching wildlife for more years (decades) than I care to admit and really enjoy the extra photographic aspect. It’s a deeply rewarding process — even if some photos are a bit more MEH than others. I have years and years of material to post, but I look more forward to what’s yet to come! 2022 was a terrible year (I didn’t get out much), so I’m looking forward to a much more productive and rewarding 2023!
LikeLiked by 1 person