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They’re very aggressive snakes.

I’ve seen them stand up 2’ or more above the ground to look at you. When a snake has about a third of its body standing straight up and staring at you it’s a very uncomfortable feeling. It feels very personal.

They also like to hang in low branches near water. When I’m in cottonmouth territory I look like a bobble head.

My high school track coach was bitten by a cottonmouth which dropped into his boat while he was fishing. The bite was not fatal but I heard later that he had to be circumcised because of it.

I really don’t know why as he was bitten on the thigh or at least that is what the rumor was.

Another friend of mine was fishing and bitten on the leg by a cottonmouth. The strange thing is he was carried out to the highway almost a mile by his cousin. The guy who got bitten was tackle on our football team and weighed 290. His cousin walked all the way with that guy on his back.

I have had some very close encounters with snakes but have never been bitten. A friend and I were walking down a deer trail in the woods and I stepped right over a cotton mouth that was crossing the trail. It made me sick to my stomach and I could not go any farther into the woods.

You said they can raise up 2 inches? I'll bet they can raise up higher than that. Did you know that a smaller sized rattlesnake can stand up and dance on it's tail? I know that sounds preposterous but it is true. There is an old western painting (either Russel or Remington) that depicts Indians in some kind of ceremony with snakes dancing in “S” shapes on their tails.

I was in south Texas deer hunting and decided to walk back to the camp because nothing was moving. I heard a buzzing sound (I had never heard a rattlesnake's rattle). About 12 feet in front of me was a rattle snake up on his tail just like the western painting I had seen.

Yes I was armed and I killed it, it took a couple of shots because it was moving. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, I was so stunned.

The back of my property is bordered by a narrow cove. Very good fishing...but very snakey.

One of my dogs fell in during cottonmouth mating season a few years back. Bye-bye puppy. She did make it to the bank before collapsing.

Freeeedoom..I hear ya about looking like a bobblehead. When I go down to mow the bank and surrounding area my head looks like it is on some kind of crazy swivel. Plus, it has to be “push mowed” there so I am really “pickin’ ‘em up and puttin’ ‘em down”, lol. Neighbors come from miles around to watch me. For some reason if I’m just fishing from the bank..I’m not really intimidated. Go figure.