Snakes on a plane...or under a rock...underwater?

On the account of an unseasonably glorious late October afternoon, Aaron and I went climbing last weekend at Kepler Palisades State Park, Iowa. For those who don't know, the climbing at Palisades is right along the river bank. Which means that if you are belaying from the bottom, you are right at the water's edge.










Such was the case last weekend. As I was belaying Aaron (who, I might add, was busy onsighting a sick route - probably like a 5.13d or something) I looked out across the river to take in the autumn splendor of amber oaks, bluebird skies, and warm sunshine.









When, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a flickering tongue. I looked down to the water a few feet away from me and I spied this little guy:












I didn't know what to think. The water must have been about 40 degrees F, and considering that snakes are poikilotherms, I thought "Oh no, Mr. Bullsnake must have accidently slithered into the river and now he can't move." I snapped a few pics, and tried to get a bit closer. But much to my and Aaron's (who by the way had taken quite the fall because I had abandoned my belaying duty due to the distraction at hand) suprise and amazement, Mr. Bullsnake calmly recoiled underwater and back under the rock. We watched and waited for several minutes to see if he would swim away to familiar dry land. But no, he had found a home - under that rock, and under the water! Aaron saw him pop his head up on the other side of the rock some time later.






Now, it was near Halloween - so I suppose it could have just been an eel disguised as a snake. Or was it a snake dressed up as an eel? Weird.











Oh yeah, here's a catepillar we saw, too. Neato.