Speckled hognose snake escaping, Ankarafantsika, Madagascar

A terrible photo but I'm wanting to share the story behind it. After our best day of our second trip to Madagascar with lots of luck in spotting species, I was in the zone. Despite being exhausted after two long hikes, I continued on my own around our bungalow to do some macro photography.

I stationed myself along some shrubs that had many dragonflies and butterflies coming in and out. Yet after 20 minutes I got annoyed that none of them would settle, hence I put a step forward to carry on. With my foot in mid-air, I suddenly realized I was about to plant my foot on a snake. At the very same moment, the snake realized this as well, and shot away like an arrow. In a moment of both fear and reflex, I snapped this photo without looking in the general direction of the snake. Although I know Madagascan snakes are not venumous, I did ponder over the thought that this snake was just one step away from me for a solid 15 minutes, without either of us aware of each other's presence.

After sharing the photo with my guide, he concluded it is a "Brown hog nose snake". I assume this means it's the Speckled hognose snake, the only of such snakes I could find from Madagascar.