AR 12 - Toad, Snake, and Fog

I was back on the paved trail yesterday. My walk took place later in the afternoon just after a thunderstorm. It had been sunny and in the upper 90's (°F) before the storm, and the bad weather dropped the temps down nearly 20 degrees. Fog was forming just above the trail and made things surreal (and quite sweaty).

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A toad hopped out in front of me and I followed it off to the side into the grass. As I knelt down close, something moved a few inches away. This something turned out to be a juvenile cottonmouth. It didn't scare me as bad as I'd imagined, and the snake was cool about it too. It just slithered off somewhat slowly and then stopped about a foot away.

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I just ordered my next photographic accessory today: a portable digital audio recorder. I've been wanting one for a very long time. I would love to capture the sounds of birds, frogs, wind through the trees, etc. while I'm out photographing. Maybe if it works out, I'll post some short audio clips here in the future.