North Texas has had a lot of rain lately. So much that Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is currently underwater. Most of the hiking trails and roads are flooded. We didn't realize how bad the flooding was until we went up there yesterday for a hike. Areas that, in April, were 6+ feet down and completely dry are now engulfed and basically missing. The bridge over the main part of the lake is usually 4-6 feet above the water; all I could see yesterday was the very top of the guardrails.
Because of all the flooding (and the subsequent lack of people), the wildlife had moved to higher ground. Unfortunately, this meant that what was supposed to be a relaxing hike was spiked with a couple of cottonmouth sightings. Generally, I have no problem with snakes, but venomous ones freak me out. The two we ran into yesterday were right in the middle of the trail (at the furthest point from the trailhead) and very angry to see hikers.
These are some photos I took of one of the snakes -- from a safe distance using a telephoto lens.
