I like snakes but this one makes my heart do flips. Can't help but think of Lonesome Dove everytime I see one.

Thanks for educating us anyway! Love your lessons on the wildlife!

Betsy

Cheek stripe! I never knew about the cheek stripe! Thanks!

That's the key, Kate. If it's a Florida cottonmouth, whether it is a brightly colored juvenile or a nearly-black adult, that cheek stripe is present and very visible.

I personally think the biggest danger with cottonmouths is stepping on one. Most snakes try to get out of your way, if they see or hear you coming. But water moccasins tend to lie in the middle of a path and not move when someone comes walking by. They may gape that white-lined mouth at you while staying put, but if you don't see the snake, you run the risk of stepping on it and getting nailed. Other than that, I've never seen them be any more aggressive than any other snake, though others may have had different experiences than I.

Marcia

Thank you Marcia for the info.
We are almost finish cleaning out the pond.Build-up of ten years of debris and muck. Well we have seen a small black snake swimming everyday. The other day my older son,Jeremy,
30 years old,ran out of the pond scared. He said the "little"
snake was swimming toward him. I told him him that it is a harmless snake. Thanks to you I know what to look for.

Felix

You are welcome, Felix. I also did ID posts on coral snakes and diamondbacks, and every now and then, I get a question bumping those posts back up again. I never finished the one on pygmy rattlers, the only other venomous snake for us in central Florida. Someday, I'll get to that one, I imagine. It's good for gardeners to know when to be careful around a snake in the yard. We have more opportunities to run into them than many folks do, so we should certainly be able to identify the ones packin' "heat!"

I'll be your pond is looking good!

Hugs,
Marcia

Thanks very much, Marcia. We live very close to water, and I hope I never see one. However, if I do, this will be very useful in identifying it.
Lynne

great info marcia. i live on a small lake and i'm always bailing water out of it. luckly, i've only come across one big black snake. Knock on wood, i've never come across a cottonmouth...

-Chris

Lynne, you are just the type person I had in mind when writing this...someone with a likely moccasin habitat nearby, who might see one while working in the yard.

Chris, just remember that contrary to popular legend, they don't "chase" humans at all. But they often will lie still or stand their ground, rather than immediately seeking to retreat, like most snakes. And that is what makes them more dangerous, to my mind. Just be alert when around water, and you should be okay.

Glad this post might be of help!

Marcia

When I was fishing the Military Bass Anglers circuit here in Florida (many years ago smiling) we would run across them on a weekly basis. As Marcia stated, they don't chase you, but they don't give ground very easily and are the most aggressive snakes I've had the displeasure of dealing with. Mean critters that you learn "very quickly" to leave alone. Thanks for what youÂre doing to educate the citizens of Florida.

You're welcome, Tampaart. I think of them as being "passive-aggressive" in that they just stay put and DARE you to step on them or get too close. It's like they are saying, "I was here first, bud. Find another path, or go HOME."

Marcia

Marcia,

Passive aggressive is the perfect description!

I really like the picture of the 9th cottonmouth down because I have been acquainted with that very snake at that very location in the wild. I was there with the photographer, a friend of mine, when that picture was taken. Small world :-).

WAYNE! Where you been, my little herp-lovin' buddy?? I've really missed your input whenever snake topics come up around here! How's the herpin' in MO right about now? Still too cold? I saw my first black racer of this season strectched out along the top of my plumbago, basking in the sun, Sunday.

Glad you like the "passive-aggressive" term. And I remember you telling me about that snake before. It was a little guy in shallow water, right? I think you showed me a picture of your friend, standing in the water taking the picture. It's a GREAT shot of a beautiful snake.

Good to see you! Hope you'll drop in more often.

Marcia (Wish the reptile forum was more active. Whenever I drop by there, I just fine old posts sitting there unanswered, and nobody around to play with!)

Marcia,

It's mostly still too cold in Missouri but I saw my first snake of the year about the same time you did. It was a large black rat snake just coming out of its den last Saturday. Pretty soon they'll be out in good numbers here. I'm sure the reptile forum will start to pick up in the spring too.

Yeah my wife took the picture of the guy standing in the water at the same time he was taking the 9th picture down.
I'm sure the snakes will start appearing in gardens more frequently soon and your educational posts to fellow gardeners will be a big help as always.

Hi, Marcia!
I took this shot yesterday and despite your wonderful lesson I am not sure who they were. It was 3 of them (having a good time lol) near small freshwater lake.
Maria

{{gwi:884847}}

Maria, these look like harmless Florida banded watersnakes to me. Here's a picture for you to compare.

Keep in mind that there can be a lot of variation in color, with some snakes being darker overall than others, and some being a bit brighter. But the general markings look the same to me, and you can see that the snakes do not have that wide brown cheek stripe. Nor are they anywhere near as heavy-bodied and thick as moccasins. These little guys are often thought to be dangerous when they aren't at all.

Great picture, btw. I wonder if they are in mating mode right now? Seems a bit early in the year to me, but I'm not an expert on that. Wayne, are you still around?

Marcia

Good call Marcia! Most definitely Florida Banded Water Snakes! Harmless and very frisky :-). Not too early for them to get frisky. Spring has sprung.

Great picture by the way Maria! Looks like two frisky males and one female.

That's just what I was thinking, Wayne. Thanks for giving us the benefit of your MUCH MORE expert opinion. I have seen garter snakes doing the Group Romp thingie during mating season, and black racers, as well, but not these guys. However...snake friskiness must look pretty much the same in any species, I reckon. I mean, how much can they get up to with the No Arms Or Legs thing hampering them?
*vgb*

Marcia

FL newbie here who lives on a lake. Thank you ALL.

Hi, Doc dot! Hope this will give you peace of mind when you spot a harmless water snake swimming by. It pays to know the 4 venomous snakes we have here in central Florida (cottonmouth or water moccasin, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake, and eastern coral snake) so that you don't have to panic every time you see another type in the garden or on the lake.

Glad this has helped you.

Marcia

BUMP!

Marcia

Thank you!! So helpful :)

Cathy

You are welcome, Cathy. Hope you saw the one on coral snakes. I bumped it up, but it is already falling down, down, down! ;o)

Marcia

Bump!

That is one grumpy cottonmouth! LOL
Please...........keep'm in your yard...J/K Miss Marcia.

*Wavin' to Wayne!!!! :)

Thanks for the wave :).

Next month I'll be going on my annual fall cottonmouth watching excursion! Yay!

Hey, Wayne! Take pictures, PLEEZE! Especially if you go to that road where the migration occurs. Fascinating stuff!

Marcia

Fabulous tutorial, thank you so much for the post, Marcia.

I know that generally cottonmouths are not aggressive. Once when i was a teenager we lived in Bithlo. Had a lot of rains so our ditches out front were full with water. There was one in the ditch and my mom was gardening. I was up at the house. I was coming out to tell my mom about the snake but then it started on a beeline straight for her. Was the strangest thing I ever saw. Well, I had to grab my pellet gun and take it out because I was afraid it would get my mom. I was amazed at how I shot it in the head from about 100 feet away though. I told my mom about it because she heard me shoot my gun and she was almost mad that I was shooting out front. I've never seen one aggressive since though.

any body know if the cottonmouth can be found in the canals off of the Banana River and Merritt Island? The water is salt water.

For the last thirty years, there are two times a year you'll find me wandering in the swamps: Fall archery deer season (Sept.& Oct.), and Spring turkey gobbler season (March & April).
Since the weather is warm during those hunting seasons, I run into snakes of all sorts every single day. The cottonmouths and rattlers will merely lie there, coiled up and waiting to see what I'm going to do. I just walk around them.
About twenty years ago I was driving back to my campsite down a dirt road in the Green Swamp WMA just after dark, when my headlights revealed the black, glossy form of some animal lying in the road about a hundred yards ahead. It was giving off a red eyeshine and at first I thought it was a freshly road-killed otter.
As I got closer I realized I was looking at the biggest cottonmouth I'd ever seen. This thing was at least six feet long and as big around as my bicep.
Although I had a shotgun in the truck, I had no interest in killing it. I did, however, want a photo.
So, I grabbed my camera and walked up to the snake in the glare of the truck's headlights. It just lay there, all relaxed, not coiling or reacting in any way.
This would never do! I wanted a ferocious gaping display!
So, I kicked sand in its face a couple of times to get it riled up. It reacted by merely turning and slithering back into the heavy roadside brush.
Talk about a cool character! I never did get a picture of it.

Brute,

Great story and pretty consistent with what I often find. I've encountered an occasional aggressive one but I have encountered many more like the one you describe.

Floridafarmer,

Yes, In fact cottonmouths are fairly common at Merritt Island. All things being equal they probably prefer swampy freshwater but they can be found in saltwater estuaries and canals.

Marcia,

I will take some cottonmouth pictures next month! Pictures 7, 8 and 9 down were taken at the famous snake migration road.

You guys demonstrate my theory that cottonmouths are "passive-aggressive." Dangerous in that they don't move out of the path, often, and people who are not alert can step on them. Tales of them chasing people are usually highly exaggerated. This isn't to say it can't happen. Just that it's not a common behavior.

My best cottonmouth story involved canoeing by myself on Rock Springs Run. I was in an area we call the Flats. Very shallow water, with a lot of grassy vegetation. Makes for slow canoeing as you try to glide through without digging up the bottom. I spotted a cottonmouth in the water, about 2 1/2 feet long, and close to the shore. It had a dead fish in its mouth. I don't think it killed the fish, but I can't be sure of that. But the fish looked REAL dead. It was a panfish of some type (bluegill, shellcracker, one of those) and quite wide, and this snake was trying its best to figure out how to swallow it.

The snake worked its mouth slowly around the body of the fish, which was way, WAY too wide for it to swallow, and even tried to force it down sideways. The fish was probably ten inches long and no way was that snake going to get it down sideways. I let the canoe drift over fairly close, as I was enjoying the show.

The snake finally began working its way towards the head of the fish, where it would have had the best chance to get it down, but suddenly noticed me or my canoe slowly nearing. If snakes could change expression, this one's eyes would have bugged out and his mouth would have dropped open. If they could talk, he would have been yelling "Holy Sheepdip! Where'd THAT come from??" He did a backflip away from the fish and took off for the weeds like a streak! It was so funny looking, I almost fell out of my canoe laughing at him.

I always wondered if he came back later to finish working on the fish. But I didn't wonder about who was more scared by our encounter. He definitely was!

Still...I am very careful on the river or in places where cottonmouths might lurk. They normally don't care if you approach them. I admire them, but I don't want to step on one or come face to face with one at any closer range than what I just described. I'm not NEARLY as brave as Wayne!

Marcia

Thanks for this forum! I was trying to identify a dead snake by my mailbox near a ditch. We live on marshfront property and haven't seen hardly any snakes but a black racer. This year it's rained a lot and the ditches are full to the max! I think the snake was a water moccasin based on its triangular head and short tail. The eyes were eaten out already by some ants. My husband threw it away before I learned to check the side cheek stripes and neither one of us plan to dig it out of the trash. I'm assuming the rain is what drove it to us. Isn't it rare for moccasins to habitat in brackish water (in a marsh).

We don't have those snakes in California, but this is the saddest song I ever heard. Nobody ever wrote one about a rattler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuGcBYdAPA

The photo with the guy holding the snake with a snake hook worries me. It's obvious from the cloudy eyes the snake just ate but I still don't think it's a very good idea to be handling a venomous snake without having its head under control. If threatened this snake could still bite him. My friends at the hero dept at the zoo where I worked years ago would say this is not a smart thing to do.

Thanks Carol! The search worked.

Bump!