On April 1 Matt Aresco and I had just put our boat ashore on the main channel of the Choctawhatchee when this Brown Watersnake (Nerodia taxispilota) surfaced beside us holding a Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) by the snout. It had apparently just caught the fish in deeper water and was bringing it to shore, and was oblivious to our presence. We watched quietly for 40 minutes as it struggled to swallow the little catfish, which did not put up much resistance other than extending its stiff dorsal and pectoral spines. Once the fish was swallowed, the snake swam off to the shelter of some tree roots to digest what might have been its first meal of the spring.
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