Nerodia Sipedon Traditional Cache
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Size: 
(micro)
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You will encounter many snakes along this stretch of the Wolf River. Most are harmless (though large) members of the Nerodia family of Water Snakes. Please do not pester the snakes. A boat is not required to reach this particular spot, but the river route is definitely the easier route -- not that it's easy at all.
The Northern Water Snake, Nerodia sipedon, is a large, well-known snake in the Colubridae family that is native to North America. They are active during the day and at night. They are most often seen basking on rocks, stumps, or brush. During the day, they hunt among plants at the water's edge, looking for small fish, frogs, worms, leeches, crayfish, salamanders, small birds and mammals. At night, they concentrate on minnows and other small fish sleeping in shallow water.
Northern Water Snakes grow over four feet long. They can be brown, gray, reddish, or brownish-black. They have dark crossbands on their necks and dark blotches on the rest of their bodies, often leading to misidentification as cottonmouths or copperheads by novices. They tend to darken as they age. Some will become almost completely black. The belly of this snake also varies in color. It can be white, yellow, or gray. Usually it also has reddish or black crescents. Northern Water Snakes are non-venomous.
Northern Water Snakes have many predators, including birds, raccoons, opossums, foxes, snapping turtles, and other snakes. They defend themselves vigorously when they are threatened. If they are picked up by an animal, or person, they will bite, as well as release excrement and musk. Their saliva contains an anticoagulant which can cause its wounds caused by biting to bleed profusely.
Muskrat houses and beaver lodges are good places to find water snakes, which like to hide among the sticks and plant stems. They live near lakes, ponds, marshes, in peoples houses, rivers, and canals; just about anywhere there is water.
If you need to rent a boat for an attempt on this cache, you can find a list of outfitters at http://www.wolfriver.org/outfitters.htm
For our trip in May 2008, we used Ghost River Rentals. They check up on the cache on their float trips.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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