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cottonmouth
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by tyson on January 26, 2004
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I have talked to many people who have had encounters with cottonmouths. They have told me that the water mocassin is a very aggressive snake. They've told me those snakes will come up to you and even sometimes chase you away. I've been told those snakes will sometimes come up to a canoe with people in it and try to get in. One lady even told me that the snake swam up to her and would not let her come back ashore; when she moved to try to go around it, the snake wouldn't let her. She yelled for help and other people distracted the cottonmouth, and she was finally able to get by. These people who have told me these stories all seem credible. What do you think?
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RE: cottonmouth
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by Buzztail1 on January 26, 2004
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Okay Tyson, here goes:
The tales of Cottonmouths trying to get into boats with people? Probably entirely accurate!
Consider this - Cottonmouths are alert and curious animals. They were most likely investigating this "new island" in their territory. The same could be said for the woman who was in the water. The snake was most likely trying to investigate her and was not being aggressive at all.
As for credibility, I caught my first Cottonmouth in Virginia Beach about 1977. Since then I have kept and raised them and photographed them in the wild. It has been my personal experience that it is MUCH easier to get a Pigmy Rattlesnake to strike than a Cottonmouth. In other words - they just aren't aggressive under normal conditions (as in: not cornered or severely stressed).
I think that most of the people who respond to you here who have any actual experience with Cottonmouths will agree with me.
Just my opinion, which you asked for.
Karl H. Betz
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RE: cottonmouth
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by tj on January 26, 2004
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What's even worse than their bad rep is the fact that 8 out of 10 times the snake identified by a "credible witness" isn't even a cottonmouth.
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RE: cottonmouth
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by LarryDFishel on January 26, 2004
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As for the cottonmouths I care for, I certainly agree with a previous poster that they seem curious, but not the least bit agressive. I hear these stories constantly when I'm working the snake room at our refuge. Often they include a reference to them falling out of a tree into a boat, which sounds suspiciously unlike a cottonmouth to me. Everyone's absolutely sure they're cottonmouths, but when I show them a picture of a mangrove watersnake that I keep on hand for this purpose about 75% sya "yeah that's what it looked like" (no matter what part of the country they saw it in) and most of the rest say they're not sure. Personally I've seen maybe a total of 15 cottons in the wild and not one has come towards me. Ones on land just sat still and tried to blend in and one in the water either completely ignored me or swam away. For the most part, I believe the stories, just not the average Joe's ability to tell a cottonmouth from any other fat, brown/black snake.
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RE: cottonmouth
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by foxhunter on January 26, 2004
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MAN ..IF I HAD A DIME FOR EVERY.Common Water snake Killed and shown to me..by some proud imbecile! Swearing it was a Cottonmouth! I would certainly be rich!..Never have seen a Bona-fide Cottonmouth..killed by one of these Snake assasins..But as to your question..my experience in the savanah area with wild Cottonmouths is that..like the previous posters ..they range from extremly curious to extremly shy..trying to blend in..mostly..most wont give ground..wnen approached if they feel they have a good spot..and if prodded will of course warn.and display....But Ive gotta say I have copperheads to be quicker to bite in the long run...but i am very cautious around Cotton mouths..And handle with extreme care..Ive seen bites..and They are NOT PRETTY!
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RE: cottonmouth
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by JTEDENS on January 27, 2004
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I live along the Texas gulf coast and have encountered hundreds of cottonmouths over the last twenty years. I've had only one charge me, it was late at night in a rain storm and the snake was being blinded by the headlights and a spotlight. I can't say it was truly charging at me, maybe just going in any direction to get away. Anyway I would agree that they are not truly aggressive, but they will stand their ground if cornered. 90% percent of the time they try to flee before I can get my hook on them or shortly after. I relocated 3 from my doorstep last year and they all tried to flee until they had been grabbed by tongs and had no choice except biting. When I say doorstep one was 4 ft. from my front door and the other two were within 15 ft of it. Relocation was definitely necessary to keep my wife from killing them.
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