It’s great when life throws you a surprise. A good friend of mine has been in town since last Friday and we have spent a lot of time fishing since then. Last Friday we were out in the morning at a spot and while the fishing wasn’t great it was a great day to be out. We decided to leave and travel somewhere else and then come back later. On our way out we passed by a Garter Snake, pretty common to see around the rivers here. When we came back later that day I got quite the surprise when I almost stepped on this Garter Snake.
Wildlife photography is not just about capturing pretty pictures, it’s about documenting the natural world. This Garter Snake was having a heck of a time finishing off this Stonecat. The Stonecat is a type of native Catfish, one of two species found in Montana. The Stonecat usually doesn’t get bigger then 8-10 inches and lives in pools of water between the rock crevices. While harmless they do have a spines on their pectoral and dorsal fins. I’m not sure if this snake found those spines or because it was a big fish, but it was having a heck of a time trying to finish off this Stonecat. Now some of you might be saying that this is gross but it’s really just biology. It’s the natural world and it’s not something you see everyday. On the photography side I was prepped for taking pictures of fish and portraits, not wildlife. I used the D4 and 24-70 AF-S with the SB-900 flash. It was a cooperative snake so I was able to get pretty close.