I was looking for a place to sit and catch my breath deep in the Great Trinity Forest this weekend. I was ready to take a seat on a block of concrete just seconds before I noticed it was already occupied. This Southern Copperhead was coiled up, fully exposed, with only the shade of the surrounding trees providing relief from the already scorching sun.
Southern Copperheads are venomous snakes and will bite if provoked sufficiently. You can see from these pictures just how easy it would be not to see one until it was too late. This one, however, never even took notice of me, and we parted company without issue.
Can you see the Southern Copperhead in this picture?