But during my walk through the woods last night, I finally met a very nice and beautiful venomous snake I could actually photograph – and my absolute favorite species among the 53 on the island. Not only was this the first time I’ve seen a live Taiwan Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri), but it was also a juvenile (about six inches), and thus the perfect training partner for photographing any venomous serpents I hopefully will meet later in life: as long as I kept a six-inch distance, I didn’t have to worry about how to explain to the nice 911 lady how to get the ambulance to that remote spot in the boonies where the encounter took place. Also, it was a pretty chilly night (ca. 57 degrees F), so the viper was too sluggish to run off, but not too inert to change positions all the time. In short, the perfect model!
