Awaiting the sun after a night of hunting

Our family cottage borders the edges of the Bruce Peninsula National park, and is located near a gestational site of the Massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus), so encounters happen occasionally. I came across this beautiful Massasauga the night before walking the path back to my bunkie for the evening. When I awoke in the morning it was still posed for the strike as it awaited the beam of morning sun to warm it enough to continue back into the swamp area. This allowed me a brief moment to quickly capture the beautiful pose before. This was the second of two hunting Massasaugas encountered that evening - the other had staked out a path closer our main cabin, which is a regular hunting location - but gets the sun earlier so had already left for the morning. Taken August 14th, 2020