Catfish dinner

Last month, while at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, I was standing on a stream bank casually observing nature as thunder rolled in the distance.

Suddenly, the snake shown here came from underwater and slid very quietly and quickly onto shore, carrying a catfish. The fish looked too big for the snake to swallow.

The snake is a common nonvenomous water snake called a diamondback water snake. The fish is a common bullhead catfish called a brown bullhead. It also is sometimes called a speckled cat or a willow cat.

I watched the snake, photographing it several times, as it struggled with the fish for about an hour.

It was aware of my presence just as it would be of any danger such as a raccoon, great blue heron, coyote or bald eagle that might suddenly come at it, intending for a dinner of both snake and catfish. I might have played a role in nature that day by keeping harm away from the snake. Eventually, the snake overcame the fish and swallowed it.

Adult diamondback water snakes may reach four feet in length and sometimes even longer.