You’ve been cautioned about the snakes in the grass, but perhaps you should be more concerned about the copperhead in the leaves.
A photo of the venomous snake—properly known as Agkistrodon contortrix—hiding in plain sight went viral on Twitter last night, stumping thousands of people. The photo was taken by Jerry Davis somewhere in Texas, and it’s enough to ensure you lace up some Keen’s and pants on your next hike through the hill country.
https://twitter.com/SssnakeySci/status/856149745827491840
The tweet has been favorited over 20,000 times. Reactions seemed to alternate between “Help! I can’t find it” and “Help! I’m never going camping again.”
https://twitter.com/TheBrettRGM/status/857058088196612096
https://twitter.com/sciencechloe/status/856426357043019776
Let me know when you’ve given up.
Still looking?
You’re not going to find it, so here:
https://twitter.com/SssnakeySci/status/856503844343341056
Helen, a Ph.D. student at the Florida Institute of Technology, with a focus on boas, pit vipers, and pythons, used the opportunity to teach people some basics about snakes:
https://twitter.com/SssnakeySci/status/857031049481789440
And more about the copperhead:
https://twitter.com/SssnakeySci/status/856895571776483328
And what to do if actually bitten:
https://twitter.com/SssnakeySci/status/856923476678119427
Her pinned tweet offers one more teachable lesson:
https://twitter.com/SssnakeySci/status/856892928345681921
Someone get this into elementary school curriculum ASAP.