Snake in the Water

As the sun set behind the tall green evergreen trees over a quarter mile distant a profound purple and magenta color formed just above the trees at the horizon of the 44 acre lake in north central Wisconsin. The few clouds seemed to radiate purple to the point that I could almost seemingly touch the color emanating from the distant horizon. I was at the small beach at Cunard Lake, and eyed the horizon parallel to the shoreline on my right. The evergreens made the water color even darker than it otherwise would be at this stage of dusk. Even though the water surface was as smooth as a mirror, an almost indiscernible lap of water occurred at the beach sand. As I looked down I saw a snake in the water. 

Cunard Lake, Google Maps

As I approached the water edge with my Keen sandals, the water almost lapping the black tips, the snake slithered closer to the shore and raised its head out of the water and hissed at me. I took the cue to back up slightly. A bit earlier, as I took off my shirt and set my towel on the fence above the retaining wall which sets aside the small beach from the sitting area, I cannot say I was not warned about the snake. A couple, also camping at Cunard, mentioned the snake and suggested I see what it does as I approached the water. This hissing, making me think it was speaking parsel tongue as it moved its long tongue in and out was not what I would say inviting. I had wished Harry Potter was around to interpret the snake's message. The couple told me that was the small snake and showed me a picture of a larger one that had just been there prior to my arrival. They were surprised at how long the snakes were in the water.

Large snake looked like this
WIDNR

Before noticing the snake, but after the couple told me about it, I noted that I had swam in the lake, from this very beach, for the past five days, and had not noticed any snakes. The prior night I had swam at the lake with a pleasant swim, but about a half hour earlier. That pleasant outing had the exception when I was almost run over by a canoeist who for some reason could not see a person and the waves caused by swimming in front of him. His wife in the front must have seen me but I heard her say nothing. The setting sun was in my eyes and I barely had a chance to notice him approach except at the last minute when their shadow blocked the sun from view. The sun was at his back so I am not sure how they did not see me. Perhaps he was concentrating on the put in at the beach about 30 yards behind me. Or, perhaps, it just adds to my not being very noticeable.

Cunard Beach, Google Maps

The same night I saw the snake I had swam here in the early afternoon after a morning bike ride, topped off with a stop for ice cream in St Germain. While there were a couple water craft at that time, they seemed more stationary and seated near the opposite shore to not be buffeted by the strong westerly wind that caused waves to lap over my body. I had not worry about getting run over. Cunard Lake sits some what evenly between, but south of a line between Woodruff and St Germain, being a few miles south of County J in Oneida County. This was our fifth time camping at Cunard, which is a quiet campground within the Northern Highlands-American Legion State Forest. Could the slithering, curving roads around the many lakes to access Cunard Lake have presaged the coiled snake in the water?

As I watched the snake slither around in the water and taunt me, my first thought was this a water moccasin? I left my cell phone back at the campsite, but it would not have done any good due to an inability to get service, perhaps one bar at best to try and identify the creature that was probably larger in my mind than it was in real life. The photo of the couple had of the larger snake with its diamond type stripes, was rather intimidating and they said it moved off down the water into the lily pads to my left. Prudence took over, and decided I was not going to risk getting a snake bite, whether poisonous or not. It was disappointing as the late evening, with its calm waters presents a good time to swim.

Cunard Lake Beach, Source: WI DNR
The beach area is much smaller this year
with only a few feet between the water and the retaining wall.

We have camped at Cunard Lake before, and one time I had a discussion with a fellow whose friend, a professor in Indiana, had completed a loon study and this lake had been included. While we heard loons, we did not see any. My wife wondered if the snake would bother loon eggs, which made me wonder how scientists take loon predators into account. At other campgrounds I have swam and seen otters, loons, and other water fowl, but this  is the first time I recall coming across what is said to be a Common Watersnake, which, the DNR says, can be easily mistaken for a water moccasin. Varied web sites say the water moccasin is definitely not in Wisconsin. I decided not to try out as a test subject. I chose not to have my wife read the headlines: 67 year old man becomes victim of first known Water Moccasin in Wisconsin. The photo of the large snake was definitely brown with tannish stripes. The small snake was almost black in color with few discernable stripes. Maybe they were feeding on the small fish that spread out as I waded in the cool water to swim. The common watersnake is said to prefer rivers, but the only stream of which I am aware that is with Cunard is the one that connects it to Sweeney Lake.

As the purple color faded from the sky as the sun set well below the far evergreens, I decided to mosey back to our campsite about 500 to 600 feet away to surprise my wife who was tending the campfire.  She was surprised I was back so soon, although not as surprised was I was by the snake in the water.