Ryan Botkin, an archaeologist, was conducting a field survey in Ohio when he and his team prepared to wrap up their day.
As they were about to leave, one of his colleagues suddenly pointed to a small snake gliding away. The reptile had clearly spotted them before they saw it and was hastily searching for cover.
Botkin often snaps photos during work trips to show his two sons the interesting things he encounters, so he decided to follow the little snake and managed to get a quick photo. Moments later, the snake found a more secure hiding place and disappeared from sight. Botkin slipped his phone back into his pocket, not thinking much of the moment. To him, the image didn’t seem remarkable.
“It was just a quick picture of a snake that I took to show my kids some of the things I get to see when I work outside,” Botkin explained to The Dodo.
Later that day, Botkin glanced at the photo again — and realized he couldn’t spot the snake immediately. After some effort, he managed to locate it, and chuckled at the fact that even he, who took the photo, had trouble spotting it at first. Amused, he decided to upload the image to Facebook to see if others would face the same challenge — and they certainly did.
“It got A LOT of reactions and comments, and people really liked it and thought it was fun and challenging,” Botkin shared. “And I didn’t get any negative comments that I read beyond them saying they couldn’t find it or joking that there was no snake in the picture.”
The little snake was simply seeking a quiet place to stay hidden from humans — unaware that it would soon become a viral star across the internet.
