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Photoshoot with a foxsnake

spyderk

spyderk

Just a member
Last Friday my son found this little guy under the same plastic sheet that he's been finding hognose and garter snakes. This guy was feisty and bit my 6 year old daughter and made her cry (but she got over it!) and he also bit me whe I moved my hand near the side of him, right between my fingers! It stung afterward more than it hurt at the time. Isn't he beautiful?! We still have him, and I am debating on keeping him.

We also found hognose, an adult foxsnake, and a big red-bellied snake that day too. In fact, my son found ALL of those. I helped him get the big foxsnake out of the vines by our house, since he was so tangled. That took awhile! I'll post the other photos of the kids holding the snakes at some point.
 

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Nice snake. Seems like you get a lot of snake action. You can just catch and keep native wildlife legally?

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
We haven't kept anything we have caught yet. You can possess up to 2 western foxsnakes if you are a resident of WI.
 
I don't own any native to WI species so I never really concerned myself that that part of the law, but when we started finding snakes, I looked it up. You can't keep certain ones, like black rats or bullsnakes, unless they were obtained out of state and even then, only 2 of them.

I wouldn't consider keeping an adult foxsnake, but this little one ... maybe.
 
Yeah, we can't own any native species, even if they're captive bred AND obtained from out of province. Sucks, I want a Western Hognose so bad, sigh
 
Thank you! :) I am sure you are not as threatening as a bunch of children and a dog! It was fine besides rattling a little, but then once Rylee the dog got in its face and it bit her twice, it was a lot more on edge.

We let it go where we found it. Such a beautiful snake! I think they are my most favorite to find, because they are similar to the snakes we keep and enjoy.
 
Very cool Spy. You have such a way with the camera and always manage to bring out the best colors in your animals when you take these pics. I could really learn from you.

Do you mind posting your camera specs and settings you use? Not trying to take away from the actual post of this beautiful creature, just curious. My wife and I have discussed upgrading in the not too distant past and I may honestly consider it after seeing this spring/summer's threads on natural field observation.

I think my favorite thing about this snake is the way it's eye color just really compliments it's body color. Also, those brown lines under it's jaw line/mouth opening really give it some attitude and character.
 
Thanks a wonderful compliment! I appreciate it. I am enjoying the learning process myself. In fact, after viewing these pictures I began to think of what I'd do differently. I know I'll get a next time, whether it is with a wild herp or one of my own! I even have separate rocks outside, 3 for my captive snakes and 1 for the wild ones that I find.

I use a Canon T3i with either the lens that came with it or my telephoto lens (55-250mm). That is what I used here, so I could back up from the foxsnake. I'd LOVE a macro lens, but I already spent enough this past spring on my camera and lenses so maybe next year.

It was in manual mode, f/8, 1/320 sec, and ISO 400. I manually focus as well because the auto focus does not do a good enough job capturing wriggly snakes. Next time I will work on lowering the ISO.

It helps tremendously to have a beautiful model, and this foxsnake was just perfect. He had just finished biting my 6 year old daughter and was in a feisty mood. Later he bit me, too!
 
Does that lens have IS? If so you could either lower the ISO to get less noise or use a smaller f stop to gain a bit more depth of field. The photos look plenty sharp. f/8 to f/11 usually produces the sharpest photos.
 
It does have IS. It was overcast, so I used ISO 400 after seeing that 200 was a little dark. I generally don't have to go that high when I am outside, so I am thinking I was taking pictures too late in the day.

I wanted the snake to be in overall focus, but going any higher than f/8 seemed dark. Then again with the higher shutter speed, it's no wonder. I will lower that next time.

Next time! :) I love that there will be a next time since we have certain snakes that seem to hang around the house.
 
The only ones that might benefit from a bit more depth of field are #1 and #5 IMHO. #2 might actually benefit from a little less depth of field and #3 and #4 look great.
 
Thank you! I appreciate your feedback. I'll have to find a willing and slow subject (perhaps one of my boas) to work on these things.
 
Spy, if you don't mind me asking, how much has this set up set you back? Are there other models of lesser value (but still quality driven) that do a good job, that you recommend?
 
I think new, the T3i with the kit lens is $599. Searching Ebay just now, I found a lot of good deals, seemingly better than what I paid for my camera, 3 lenses, and some extras. I had narrowed my search down to Nikon d3200 or the Canon T3i.
 
Wow... little out of my league currently. A thought for future investment, haha. I'd have to likely stay in the range of 200 - 300 and get it as a Christmas type gift, lol.
 
Definitely will. Thanks Spy. I appreciate all the info. I'll definitely be looking into those types later, just have to get finances in order, and first get snakey number tres! Haha.

More hobbies for me to look into... lordy.
 
What will snake #3 be?!

Yeah I could go crazy with photography stuff since I think it's so fun, but I am happy to have a great camera so I can take pics of kids and animals, both our own and in the wild.
 
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