A few weeks ago, Robert LaFollette, our creative director, was shooting wildlife at Honeymoon Island (a beautiful local nature park). He was trying to get close to an owl and almost stepped on a very large rattlesnake. He ran like hell and didn’t (probably fortunately) have the presence of mind to take some pictures. (Robert is an extraordinarily talented photographer who has had his wildlife photos published — I highly recommend looking at his blog here).
Well, I got a Canon Rebel XTi for Christmas and have been getting involved in wildlife photography with one of my sons. And so we went out last weekend to Honeymoon Island to take some shots. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day, so I wasn’t able to get many pictures of the birds. We got a few pictures of some ospreys and many up-close shots of an armadillo (since animals aren’t hunted on the island, they have no fear of humans and you can get quite close).
A bit disappointed (but still thoroughly enjoying the beauty of the place), we were walking back on the trial when I heard my son say “Daddy!!!”. I looked down to see this huge rattlesnake. This thing was a giant, and I was just walking right by him. I backed away, started shooting and then my son and I watched in awe as he slowly meandered across the trial.
Robert and I have named this big old rattler Humphrey. He’s also our informal mascot for our new VIPRE technology. Next week, I’ll blog some pictures of Hudson, another predatory animal…but that’s for next time.
Alex Eckelberry