Cottonmouth

This is the problem where we live. Last year one of these killed my big red dog. Bit him on the tongue, he died in minutes. We have removed more than 40 since we have lived here. This one was about 3.5 feet long.

Trois

Yipes! That's a Moccasin?

Yes. They are not as thick as they were. If the weather turns dry they will come to our watergarden. And our fishpond. I have a picture of my wife sitting on our lily pond platform with a 22 rifle because one kept getting on the platform with her. She got him the second day.

Trois

My wife, Bobbie, on snake watch. (Cottonmouth only)

hmmmm...I thought that vipers had vertical pupils?

Most of the time they do have a vertical pupil. This one was very angry, and it was dark.

Trois

Sorry about your dog! That stinks. I like snakes, but not poisonous ones. Fortunately, they are few and far between where I live - I've never seen a poisonous one around our neighborhoods.

Nine out of ten snakes here are Cottonmouths. We have a few Black Ratsnakes, now and then a Kingsnake. Last year we saw a Cottonmouth about 3 feet long eating a Speckled Kingsnake. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Also, snake repellent works on all snakes except Cottonmouths. We have seen several of our goldfish entering a Cottonmouth.

We had adopted the Red Dog a couple of weeks earlier from a shelter. He was so happy to be here, but his earlier city living hadn't prepaired him for snakes. He got in it's face a little too close. We miss him.

Trois

That's how I remember them, FAT. And then they're tail would taper off real quick. We had more Copperheads than moccasins, but I never got a close up on one! So it's Vertical pupils that enable you to tell? The viper horns are enough to make me step WAY back.

Vertical pupils are only good in strong light. I know it says that a lot, but I have seen many otherwise. There is a black band that runs from just behind the eye straight down to the jaw. That is a better indication. A cottonmouth in the process of shedding usually has round pupils. We have many to observe. The final proof is the two fangs in the white mouth. We shoot them with rat-shot which is very effective up to about 15 feet. We always open the mouth when dead to confirm. There are many color variations. Most are dirty black. Also as you said, their tail gets small very suddenly, about 5 inches from the tip. If you pick up a dead one, this tip will usually break off. They also squeek when lifted by the tail.

Trois

I'd squeak if lifted by the tail, too! 'Course I'd have to be alive, and I suppose these do it when dead (else you'd hardly be lifting them by the tail).

It's the weight of their big fat body stretching the skinny tail that squeeks. Just before it breaks off.

This is the only one I have seen display the horns, then only when he was very angry.

Trois

This message was edited May 22, 2004 9:08 PM

Many african pythons have vertical pupils. The only US vipers that don't rattle are the copperhead and the moccasin. Coral snakes are rear fanged and might seem friendly. Some king snakes are colored like corals, but not quite. The color bands tell. "Red to black, venom lack. Red to yellow, kill a fellow".I have always liked snakes, but if I found a timber rattler on my property the wildlife people could collect a very dead snake. Frank

I am still unable to post pictures. Any one know why?
I went to the big pond to take pictures of emerging Dragonflies, and got a couple of pretty good pictures. They dried out too quick and left before I could snap the best ones. On the way back to the house, I walked up on a small Cottonmouth. This one was in full sun and the eye pupils were very narrow vertical slits. This one was only about 15 inches long and had all the markings seen on the young before they darken.

Pictures later, maybe.

Trois

Try re-sizing them a little smaller-that usually works for me. There is a file size limit so anyway you can reduce the file size (I don't know what the limit is-I'll see if I can find it) may help.

I had been reducing them to less than 50K and that worked. It didn't work yesterday. The picture quality will suffer if they are reduced by more than that. Maybe thumbnails are going to be all that is allowed?
Trois

Picture try of cottonmouth.

The dragonfly picture is a good size. It used to be that there was no file size limit, only that it had to be under 1000 pixels wide. But lately I've had to make them 800x600 becasue I couldn't upload them larger.....But your picture is larger than a thumbnail when you click on it........

Here's a thread with some info on what's going on with the picture uploading:

http://davesgarden.com/t/431645/

I was unable to respond to the hyperlink.

Another try for the Cottonmouth picture

Note the very thin vertical pupil when in full sun as the round pupil (above) when in darker conditions

Trois

This message was edited May 25, 2004 12:52 PM

Here in Florida, we see a Cottonmouth rarely. However, we
see a lot of Brown WaterSnake, especially near the water that
are often mistaken as a Cottonmouth.
Here is a photo after he came out of my watergarden eating
few fishes.

I think the Cotton mouths have eaten all the other water snakes in this area. I have not seen one like that for several years. Once they were common. They have cleared hundreds of acres around us the last couple of years and all the snakes are concentrating on our little 10 acres. The Cottonmouths eat almost anything. Yesterday we watched one eat a 2 foot Ribbon Snake. We have seen them eat Kingsnakes. Now and then we see a Coral snake and also a few Smooth Green Snakes. Day before yesterday I killed one in the Grandkids play yard. For some reason lately they are more assertive, and will come after you as soon as they see you. A year ago, they ran away quickly.
Trois

So sorry to hear about your dog,Trois.I don't like snakes.

This message was edited May 18, 2005 5:56 PM

Uh.... I would move... We have rattlers areound here but they are fiewadn far between... you have to go hiking to see one and then rarely... never seen one on my property....

We love it here. It is beautiful. We have so much rain and so many plants. It's like looking both ways to cross the street. You get used to it in a while. It does keep you looking down a bit, though.

Trois

Hello,
I have never posted here before but have enjoyed reading the threads and the pictures. I took these pictures recently of water moccasons.

Another one that shows the markings good.

Last one.

Can't believe you got that close and stopped to take pictures. But thanks for showing them to us.

lol I was on an old bridge above them. and when I stepped back on the bank you better believe I high-telled out of the swamp. This guy had the same idea.

Thanks for the pictures. This shows how different the colors can be in other locations. There are several different color patterns here depending on the age of the snake and how long it has been since it's last shed.

Trois

Trois wife, Ms.Bobbie, and Shadowgirl gave me an idea. If you mount your camera on a 22 you can shoot the picture, then shoot the snake! Sorry for my weak attempt at humor, but I really am afraid of snakes.

The one my wife shot was for sure a Cottonmouth. She decided enough was enough because it came onto the platform every time she did. They can be very aggressive at times. Maybe it just wanted to share her bench. We feel bad about shooting them and leave the ones on the Bayou alone. They come here to eat our goldfish and birds, kill our dog, eat the rabbits and so forth. They also ate all the Kingsnakes. Their normal areas have been taken by developers, so they converge at our place.

Trois

Are cottonmouths and moccasins the same? You're probably right Trois about the developers encroaching on their habitat. We live very far out in the country in West Tennessee about 45 NE of Memphis.The swamp of the Wolf River is 4 miles away and there is very little devleopment. Our area is mostly undisturbed woods. Lots of wildlife but they just do not come up to our house. I suppose there is plenty of food and space away from us. Mostly we have a problem with the hawks and owls eating my baby guineas. Believe if poisonous snakes came up on my porch or somewhere my dogs could get injured they would get blown away.

Cottonmouths are the dangerous moccasins. They are pit vipers and lie around with their mouths open showing white inside the mouth. In this area they are very dark but with still some color differences.

Trois

I've heard that Cottonmouths are quite aggressive. The snakes in my pictures were dark. Out of the dozen or so mocasssins I have seen in the swamp only a couple had markings that stood out. Thanks

This is a picture of my Big Red Dog that was killed by a Cottonmouth.. He was recently adopted and just didn't know about snakes. He was bit on the tongue and died in minutes. I still miss him.

Trois

trois,
we live in the same environment
snakes,
rain(waaaaay to much)
mosquitos
beautiful plants
oppressive heat

ahh, life is good :-)

Yep!!!


Trois

awww, Big Red Dog sure was a cute fellow. I imagine you do miss that sweet face.