Cottonmouth Snakes

It's spring in Florida and time for everyone to become aware of the potential dangers posed by venomous snakes. Today our condominium complex had a little brief moment of excitement when it was discovered that a cottonmouth snake was sunning itself by the swimming pool. We helped the security guard put it in a collection bag which made Connie and I feel just like Steve and Terry Irwin on the Crocodile Hunter TV show. Connie said that it was definitely "not a very pretty sheila at all."

Cottonmouth or water moccasin
(Agkistrodon piscivorus conati)

The cottonmouth is dangerous because unlike other snakes they don't slither away when someone approaches but can become defensive and easily stirred to strike out aggressively.

From the very well written website www.marshbunny.com I found this:

Cottonmouth snakes are poisonous and extremely aggressive. They get the name cottonmouth because when they prepare to strike they open their jaws wide, exposing the puffy white lining of their mouths. Alligators only get aggressive during mating season, but cottonmouths are in a constant state of PMS - they not only will NOT run away from you, they will seek you out and chase you down.

Most anyone would rather have an alligator in their boat than a cottonmouth any day of the week. I have heard a few snake-in-the-boat stories and they are about equally divided between "we all jumped overboard" and "I grabbed my gun and shot the boat full of holes trying to kill the snake". You learn to not only keep an eye on things moving on the water, but to perform a "snake check!" anytime you pull up under a tree. Some snakes (in a fit of whimsy, no doubt) like to drop from trees into boats to see how fast they can empty the boat out.

I hope that none of these things ever happens to me or any of you my dear readers. So let's be extra careful and ever mindful of our surroundings, so we can steer clear of these dangerous reptiles in our midst.

Steve Irwin I'm NOT!