What kind of snake is this?

Humblegunner's yard | 5/09/09 | humblegunner

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

I forgot this part :

“Cottonmouths may breed year-round but most matings occur between April and May,”

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

You reminded me of another important Respect-a-thon.

04/06/09: International Respect for Chickens Day May 4, 2009
http://www.upc-online.org/respect/

Truly a shame we missed it.

Oh well, there’s always next year.

...Drumstick?

[Nam Vet]

With that triangular head, it's poisonous for sure.

Nam Vet

[cva66snipe]

LOL I live in Eastern Tennessee. We have Rattlers in my county and maybe some on my place as I have a deep ravine on the back side of my property. I've not ever seen one in my area of the county though. We have Copperheads a plenty also. But the winter temps and stream temps here are to cold for Cottonmouths as the streams are considered mountain streams. We have Water Moccasins {non poisonous type we call such} but not Cottonmouths. Now there may be on the west side of the Cumberland Plateau and there definitely are some west of Nashville 175 miles west of here.

BTW I used to frequent the Dismal Swamp area of North Carolina and Virginia while stationed in Norfolk. Different water environment there and someone usually warmer in the winter. I also spent a couple weeks in Ft Stewart, GA. More than glad to leave too :>}

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hey there,,,

I never knew they ranged that far myself,,,

Learn somethin’ new every day around here,,,

From what I’ve seen they have about the same range as

Copperheads,,,

Both seem to be found near wet areas,,,

That’s All of my state,,,LOL,,,

Ya’ll watch where ya’ step...;0)

[cva66snipe]

I used to monitor the Smoky Mountain National Park rangers radio. I heard about a confirmed Copperhead bite at about 3000 feet up the mountain. Rattlers are there all the way up to the top. Copperheads can take the cold winters here. All the charts I've seen on Cottonmouths show them being in middle to western end of the state where it's flat country just like it shows them being on costal southern Virginia and south.

We sit between two major mountain ranges the Apalachians and Cumberlands with plenty of high ridges and smaller mountain ranges in between. My land goes from about 980 ft to nealy 1300 ft on 28 acres. IOW steep. Some of the creeks are so cold they will support trout. That is the main reason this region isn't suitable for Cottonmouths. If I saw one here I would highly suspect it was one somebody has turned loose. The same with the ocassional Gator spottings :>} http://epaper.tfponline.com/WebChannel/ShowStory.asp?Path=ChatTFPress/2007/03/14&ID=Ar00102

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

I knew ol’tattletail would be up that high but that was

in SoCal,,,

As flat as it is around here when we get high water

(like it’s doin’ now)

It drives Everything out of the bottoms to high ground

including them damned Fire Ants...

[cva66snipe]

My wife lived in southeastern Arkansas in Desha County as a child. She sat on one of their ant hills. A guy grabbed her and tossed her in atub of cold water. She was lucky the man was a cop there on a call and knew what to do. Her grandmother ran a boarding house and one of the renters had got out of hand so she called the police. One other thing she tells me about too. A boy she knew was going to go dig up night crawlers along the Bayou behind her house. A man past by and saw the boy asked him what he was doing and went on. Then he went back real quick. Too late for the kid. He was catching baby Cottonmouths.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

WOW,,,that had to hurt,,,

I’ve only had 4-5 bite me and that was plenty!

Snake bites don’t seem to kill as many people as they used

to because of the anti-venom and choppers,,,

Mostly pulpwood cutters in a hurry...

[cva66snipe]

I showed the picture at the top to my wife. She's seen her share of Cottonmouths as a kid. She said looks like one to her. But the black was throwing her off too. She said that sometimes right after they came out of the water they would look like they were black but were grey or brown. Too many things throw me off like the lack of a skin pattern and the tail sections too sharp & long but not blunt. I sure wouldn't have asked it LOL.

Reminds me of a guy named Wendy Bagwell. He was a Gospel Singer and Comedian. If you ever get a chance listen to a track he did called "Here comes the Rattlesnakes" then do so. It's one of the funniest stories I've ever heard told in my life. It's about a church he was talked into going to sing at up in Kentucky and unknown to him they were also snake handlers. In these neck of the woods theres still some of them around too.

You're right about snake bites. Most of what killed people before was doing the wrong thing once bitten. Like you say too they can get people out of about any area now flown to a hospital with anti-venom weather permitting within an hour or less.

[Vigilantcitizen]

I was talking about the snake in your first post, the snake you took a picture of IS a yellow bellied water snake. It is NOT a cottonmouth.

That's what my buddy from an outdoor forum said too.

[American72]

One easy way of telling a cottonmouth from a nonvenomous water snake: look at the jawline. Cottonmouths have a ‘racoon’ pattern on their jawline - thick horizontal stripes. Water snakes have a yellowish jawline with vertical stripes. You can clearly see the vertical stripes on the picture humblegunner posted. Also, the cottonmouth does not have a solid yellow belly. The cottonmouth has a mottled/checkered belly. People can say what they want; I just believe in leaving them alone. Get a water hose and squirt at them and they’ll go away.

[2ndClassCitizen]

M y sone has a ball python too. He is in college now, so I guess I have a ball python.

They are the most gentle snakes in the world. I believe there is no record of them ever biting a person. Anyway, I wrapped it around my neck and went for a walk in the neighborhood. I talked it up that I have a snake room wit a rattler. I don’t but it made good-tall-tale telling. Anyway, there is probably a much less chance of my house getting burglarized by a bad kid in the neighborhood as a result.

[American72]

Yes, THAT snake is a cottonmouth. The one in the picture that humblegunner posted is a yellow-bellied water snake. Two different snakes. Look at the jawline of each one. Cottonmouth in the video has horizontal lines along its jawline; like a ‘racoon mask’. The snake in the pic in this thread has a yellowish jawline with clear vertical lines. I can tell very clearly which one is which. I’m not trying to be a jerk - I do know the difference between them, and once you learn it, it is very easy.

[nina0113]

Now I feel the same way about other animals as well like coons. I learned a lesson about them. I had a female raising about 5 close to my house. I watched them grow. I also noticed my neighbors were feeding them. The coons soon lost fear of humans and at that point became a danger. I tried to scare them off, baited them with food to an metal pan I had wired with an electric fence surger, and about everything possible. One morning they started growling at me and I said that's it they have to go. The next morning I emptied out the shotgun on them. Not something I enjoyed doing anymore than killing the Copperheads but safety of self and family comes first.

People don't realize that when you feed wild animals, you're endangering them. Was the aggressive raccoon in our backyard semi-tame, or rabid? With all the kids and pets in the neighborhood, there was only one choice to make. He's pining for the fjords now - couldn't take the risk.

[humblegunner]

The one in the picture that humblegunner posted is a yellow-bellied water snake.

His belly wasn't yellow though..

Although being the wife of an expert whose website illustrates
different snakes than one it tries to describe obviously qualifies
you to make these definite assertions.

I bow to your obviously superior knowledge.

Meanwhile, my cats remain alive while the snake remains dead.

[American72]

My husband looked at the picture as well. You can continue being sarcastic and condescending, and I am done with this conversation.

[American72]

PS I really don’t see your point in even caring what kind of snake it is. Why even post the picture? Other people on this thread also verified it was a water snake and not a moccasin and you seem intent on insisting it was a moccasin. In any case, you don’t care what kind of snake it was anyway, as you were going to kill it no matter what. And you will continue killing them without caring, so what difference does it make as to the type of snake it is?

[humblegunner]

I am done with this conversation.

Praise the Lord.

[databoss]

Genuis!? You’re too kind ;-)