Photographing Big Snakes
Some of the most fun I ever had photographing wildlife was when we brought the wildlife with us. One of my closest friends had a hankering for exotic pets, especially snakes. Some of them were big snakes. They had started out as little snakes and grew into the job over the years.
My friendship with Bill began because of the snakes. Bill’s girlfriend had given him a new snake as a birthday gift. The snake was a white lipped python named Charlie. She had gotten the snake at a pet store, but the unfortunate creature had been poached from his native New Guinea and smuggled into the United States. Whomever had owned the illegal reptile was afraid to stick their hands inside the cage of the aggressive wild born snake. Unable to clean the cage, the reptile had developed parasites and was quite ill. The owners had taken Charlie to a pet store. Bill took Charlie to the vet and the vet gave Bill some medicine. Which was how Bill and I became friends. We were coworkers and we went to Bill’s place every lunch hour to give Charlie an injection. Charlie did not like the shots. The fast and angry snake snapped and writhed while I held him and Bill injected him. Nobody else would help do it and I don’t blame them. It was scary as hell.
After Charlie recovered good health, I asked Bill if I could photograph his reptiles. Bill agreed and told me I was not the first person to photograph his pets. He started to explain about being careful to prevent the lights and heat lamps from being reflected in the glass. I had to explain to Bill that I had no intention of photographing the reptiles inside their terrariums. We would take the reptiles to the wilderness.
We experimented with Vixen. Vixen was a red-tailed Colombian boa. Bill had owned her for years, getting her when she was not much larger than a pencil. When I first photographed her, Vixen was about 9 feet long and maybe 75 pounds.
Our first big photo shoot took place at the resort where both Bill and I worked at the time. I remember meeting with the general manager and explaining what we wanted to do and just how big Vixen was. Even as he reluctantly gave his assent, I still remember the skeptical expression on his face. As we deposited Vixen at different water features so I could take some photographs, rumors spread among the housekeeping and landscaping crews that we had captured the animal as it was wandering the resort. We got one wonderful photo of the giant snake curled around the company logo and gave a framed copy of it to the general manager as a way of thanking him for giving us permission.
When Bill moved to Sedona, Arizona, I photographed the snakes at Wet Beaver Creek. We would carry the snakes in pillowcases, and they were pretty docile inside the pillowcases. Except for Vixen, I stuffed her into one of my hiking backpacks. We found two pools with a small waterfall in between and bordered on each end by shallow pools. It was important to find a spot in the creek where the snakes could not swim away. The snakes loved to go swimming and could hold their breath for much longer than we could. The good thing about the snakes being so big was they were easy to follow and there were not many places for such a big beastie to hide.
The cast of characters included Charlie the white lipped python, Vixen the gentle giant red-tailed Colombian boa, Vino her much smaller red-tailed Colombian boa companion, Bambi a Burmese python and Oliver the iguana.
Oliver was cool beyond cool. Her long tail would whip from side to side as she swam, and she could swim quickly. She was a happy soul who liked to sit on my chest while I read. I could tolerate Oliver’s long fingernails but quite frankly she stunk. and these reading sessions were short lived.
Oliver loved our adventures in the wild. She would take about ten steps and then stop and look around. She would take another set of steps and look around again. The only problem with Oliver was she loved to climb trees. We realized immediately that Oliver was able to climb much higher into the trees than we could. The wayward arboreal lizard needed to be stopped immediately before she could reach the treetops.
The reptiles all had different swimming styles. Vixen and Vino both swam atop the water, but Bambi swam on top or far beneath the surface — at home either way. Oliver extended her tail and her entire body writhed from side to side as she sliced through the current. Charlie swam in a fast-wriggling fashion. His gun metal blue coloring made a wonderful camouflage and sometimes he seemed to completely disappear in the water.
Vixen was a unique personality among the reptiles. She recognized my smell and eagerly crawled inside my backpack, anticipating her next outdoor adventure. When she was outside, Vixen liked to raise her head and neck about three feet into the air and take a series of deep breaths. She would take giant gulps of air which you could hear from a way off. Her tongue would flicker as she smelled the terrain. Then she would slither across the landscape in whatever direction interested here. Vixen also liked to lay across the water channels and arch her back, so the water flowed beneath her scales.
When I began photographing the reptiles, Vixen was easily the largest but as the years went by Bambi surpassed her. Bambi was about sixteen feet long and maybe 120 pounds the last time I took her picture. She was a Burmese python, and they grow to be a little more than twice that.
I was fortunate to photograph the reptiles over a period of many years. It was a unique opportunity as an artist. I was able to take photographs of more than one reptile at a time.
I photographed the reptiles over a period of fifteen years and got to know them well and I believe in their way they knew me too. I hope some of their individual personalities are revealed in their portraits. I hope most of all, the images convey some of the joy which was felt by both reptiles and humans on our sunshine days along the creek.
