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Snake Lore
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by Mulebrother on February 12, 2003
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I know this will probably start a chain reaction, but I just wanted to hear everyone's reaction to the following...Had a friend who doesn't know much about snakes that relayed an AMAZING tail to me...apparently, when his father was a boy, while fishing, he observed a "momma" cottonmouth and her babies in the water. When the "momma snake" was alerted by their presence, she opened her mouth and all the little baby snakes went in her mouth, apparently for protection. Pretty amazing, huh? Funnier still, I had heard basically the same story from this guy I worked with (age 65). Both of these guys SWEAR they saw this happen. I just wondered if any of ya'll had heard this B.S. story and what have you said to dispel it. Humor me....
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RE: Snake Lore
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by PIGMAN on February 13, 2003
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I have a Uncle who clames to Have seen this behavior too but that does not happen maybe they saw a snake eating some small snakes.
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RE: Snake Lore
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by MSTT on February 13, 2003
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Cottonmouths will happily open their mouths and take any smaller creature that will fit inside. However their motives for doing this are far from altruistic.
Their own offspring are not an exception, which is why neonates disperse quite rapidly and the myth of a "nest" of cottnomouths is just that. Put a dozen young cottonmouths together in the same place and in short order you'll have a lot fewer (but much fatter) cottonmouths as the babies are voraciously cannibalistic. Adults will also eat other adults; this has been demonstrated in zoo collections much to the annoyance of would-be breeders. I doubt they have the capacity to recognize (or refrain from eating) their own offspring, though the act of giving birth seems to inhibit an immediate feeding response.
Cottonmouths are solitary snakes for good biological reasons. The tremendous appetite which encompasses such dubious edibles as turtles, crayfish, old scraps of roadkill, fish bones from a garbage heap and scavenged dog food does not exclude its own kind.
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RE: Snake Lore
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by Snakeman1982 on February 16, 2003
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My Grandmother spent much of her childhood growing up in primative Florida during the 40's and 50's. She swore to me that as a child she had seen a large rattlesnake (Eastern Diamondback) do the exact same thing. She apparently startled the snake while she was walking outside and it opened its mouth to protect the babies, which went inside its mouth. She has told me this story two or three times over the past two years and is real convincing. My grandmother tells hundreds of true stories that she has experienced in her life and this is the first time I have ever had a possibility of doubting what she said. This is the only other time that I have heard someone else tell this type of story about a snake. I have tried to figure what else she could of seen but can't. It doesn't make since for her to lie about this because it serves no purpose, nor is there anyway she would know if this happened normally or not. She asked me if I have ever heard of any snake doing that before and of course I said no. I don't think she could have just made that up since few people talk about such things. Most people make up stories regarding a snakes danger to society, not little bits of information that won't impress people at a bar. It is relatively easy for people to exaggerate about a snakes size or tell some tall-tell about some horrible snake killing people to get a rise out of others when you are ignorant and don't have much else to talk about. However, it is hard to figure out how a person could mistake a snake getting scared by someone and putting her babies in her mouth to defend them for another behavior. It just doesn't seem possible. I have asked her to repeat the story several times. Same story always comes up and I hate not knowing whether to believe her.
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RE: Snake Lore
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by MSTT on February 16, 2003
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I hate to dis your grandma, but there isn't a scientist in the world who would believe the story. Unlike cottonmouths which could be seen taking smaller snakes into their mouths (to eat them), EDB's aren't known for being cannibalistic and they definitely don't exhibit the kind of maternal behavior your elderly relative is describing.
The majority of Florida residents are unable to correctly identify any snake including the Eastern diamondback - I have been called out many many times by police officers and by property owners to catch the "big rattlesnake" that isn't. I love it when they tell me about the big 6' diamondback that is hanging up in a tree, but it's for sure a diamondback because they know what a rattlesnake looks like all right. If they don't believe me when I tell them that rattlers don't hang in trees and they should leave it alone, I send a herp society volunteer out to pick up the nice rat snake.
Come to think of it, the "big rattlesnake" I've been called out to catch has occasionally been a cottonmouth, so maybe your grandmother saw a cottonmouth eating a smaller snake.
As a nuisance snake catcher, I get to hear some of the most amazingly stupid stories about the snakes I'm being dragged out to catch. They are told in a sincere manner that suggests the teller is absolutely convinced of the truth of these statements. When I actually catch the snake it is quite obvious that there is a very significant difference between a snake-phobic person's description and the physical reality of the animal.
The sad thing is that they believe their own mind's exaggerations and nothing you say can convince them otherwise. These people aren't knowingly lying, they're just uneducated about snakes and really unable to make an accurate report about what they are seeing.
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