Ran into a cotton mouth the other day.

[The motor guy]

Looking at pictures I assume that's what it was. Just a baby. It was shiny black maybe a foot long at most. I must of hit it with the mower first because it didn't move when I went over it with the weed whacker. Scared me to death. Lol. I've never seen a snake that color before. They're either dark brown or a grayish silver color. That was a small one though, usually they're about 3 to 4 ft long and a couple inches in diameter.

 

[mk378]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Aredeeem]

Ah, gotta love BITOG. "Hey, I saw a beautiful sunrise the other day!" Response, "Pics or it didn't happen."

 

[The motor guy]

Lol. I'm not getting bit trying to take a picture.

 

[Mr_Joe]

They act comatose in cold weather. If it was a cottonmouth, I'd dispatch it with a shovel.

 

[bullwinkle]

Sounds like the thread title should have been: "Ran OVER a cottonmouth the other day"! I hate those snakes, don't see them often here.

 

[Fawteen]

Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
Just a baby. It was shiny black maybe a foot long at most.


A baby/juvenile cottonmouth is tan/brown in color with a series of darker bands across their back. The tail starts out yellow and then turns greenish as the snake matures to an adult, and finally becomes black when it's fully mature. If your little snake was just a foot long and shiny black, it wasn't a cottonmouth.

Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
Lol. I'm not getting bit trying to take a picture.


If you ran over it with a mower and it didn't move when you hit it with a weedwacker, then how could it possibly bite you?

You can also just look at the shape of the head to determine if a snake is venomous. Venomous snakes have triangle shaped heads, and non-venomous snakes have oval shaped heads. Vipers have a pit and a nostril on their face just forward of the eye, a non-viper has just a nostril with no pit (hence the nickname "pit viper"). A cottonmouth is a pit viper.

 

[GumbyJarvis]

Originally Posted by Mr_Joe
They act comatose in cold weather. If it was a cottonmouth, I'd dispatch it with a shovel.


.410 Bond Arms + #9 Bird Shot

 

[LoneRanger]

Cotton mouths are aggressive. If i remember right they're also called water moccasins? Anyhow, there is a look alike snake that's non-venomous called a northern water snake. Had those in our pond from time to time, thought was a moccasin at first but it would haul arse away from you. As I understand it a water moccasin or cotton mouth will stand it's ground or even advance toward you (?...)

 

[4WD]

I've had my days with them … best way to tell is the wedge shaped (viper) head … and they have a raccoon looking stripe behind the eye … body color can vary as mentioned … also end to have a "stump tail" when grown and fat …

 

[andyd]

Just outside Boston, is the Great Blue hill which is mostly a big piece of granite.It has been quarried for 300 yrs and has a few colonies of copper heads and eastern rattlers. They are reclusive Every so often, one makes the news.

 

[Aredeeem]

No snakes in New Jersey. Only the ones that run for office.

 

[csandste]

1-i knew someone whose girlfriend water skied into a nest of moccasins, 2- I knew someone who found a bloody hook on their car door. Pick teen urban legend 1 or 2

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by Aredeeem
Ah, gotta love BITOG. "Hey, I saw a beautiful sunrise the other day!" Response, "Pics or it didn't happen."

Maybe he was trying to be funny🤔 (or not)..but I get ya.

Maybe I'm just gullible but why would someone go through the effort to make something up about this...a little snake. If I were to concoct a story about a snake, it's gonna be about how I wrestled an anaconda to death while never spilling a drop of my PBR!...‚

 

[GumbyJarvis]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by Aredeeem
Ah, gotta love BITOG. "Hey, I saw a beautiful sunrise the other day!" Response, "Pics or it didn't happen."

Maybe he was trying to be funny🤔 (or not)..but I get ya.

Maybe I'm just gullible but why would someone go through the effort to make something up about this...a little snake. If I were to concoct a story about a snake, it's gonna be about how I wrestled an anaconda to death while never spilling a drop of my PBR!...‚



I've heard that story before at the VFW
"Just another saturday in Da Nang..."

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by GumbyJarvis
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by Aredeeem
Ah, gotta love BITOG. "Hey, I saw a beautiful sunrise the other day!" Response, "Pics or it didn't happen."

Maybe he was trying to be funny🤔 (or not)..but I get ya.

Maybe I'm just gullible but why would someone go through the effort to make something up about this...a little snake. If I were to concoct a story about a snake, it's gonna be about how I wrestled an anaconda to death while never spilling a drop of my PBR!...‚



I've heard that story before at the VFW
"Just another saturday in Da Nang..."

...‚...‚...‚

 

[mjk]

Originally Posted by LoneRanger
Cotton mouths are aggressive. If i remember right they're also called water moccasins? Anyhow, there is a look alike snake that's non-venomous called a northern water snake. Had those in our pond from time to time, thought was a moccasin at first but it would haul arse away from you. As I understand it a water moccasin or cotton mouth will stand it's ground or even advance toward you (?...)


Yeah, I've encountered a couple of water snakes on the Mississippi river. Kind of freaky.

 

[wag123]

Originally Posted by Fawteen
You can also just look at the shape of the head to determine if a snake is venomous. Venomous snakes have triangle shaped heads, and non-venomous snakes have oval shaped heads.
Not exactly. The coral snake has a small oval shaped head. It also has the most deadly neurotoxin venom, but anyone getting bit by one of them is a very rare occurrence because their mouths are small and they don't have fangs so they have to latch-on and chew to deliver the venom.
Water moccasins are the most deadly snakes that I have come in contact with because they are highly aggressive. You don't want to go after one of them with a shovel! I dispatch them from a safe distance with my .410

 

[grampi]

I've never seen a cotton mouth before, but I've had it...

 

[alarmguy]

^^ Maybe put another way, if it has a triangle head you know to stay away from it. )
Wife was walking the dog a few months back, Copper Head was traveling across my neighbors lawn. It was dusk, didnt even care we were there, was just slowly taking his time.
I actually like snakes, find them fascinating and rather have snakes around then rodents/mice/rats etc.
He didnt even mind the flash of the camera...