Water Moccasin?

[mary]

Found this out by the chicken coop tonight, after flooding rains.  I'm thinking it's a Water Moccasin, but what do y'all think?  Yellow bellied, much smaller than the Rat Snakes, aggressive, lunged at my son before he shot it dead.

[copperkid3]

It would help if you had a clearer picture of the head of the reptile - especially the inside of its' mouth.

Also, knowing what state this snake was killed in would aid in determining the species possibilities.
*(If you are the same mary from 'that other site', if memory serves me right, you'd be from Texas?)

Just because it lunged at your son, doesn't necessary make it a cottonmouth (another name for a water moccasin) or poisonous.

[Ozarks Tom]

Right color body, what color is its mouth? And yes, they're prone to go after a person, especially this time of year. I've seen one chase a little girl right out of the water and up onto the shore.

[mary]

Yes, I know lunging doesn't make it poisonous, but it does make it aggressive, unlike the Rat Snakes we see. That's a good a picture as I could get.  Not sure how I would have gotten a picture of the inside of it's mouth.  No doubt I could have gotten a clearer shot if it hadn't been at dusk.

Yes, I am in Texas, and yes this is Cottonmouth territory, hence my thinking that it might be one. I'm not very familiar with them, for which I am thankful.  My son thought it had the head of a poisonous snake but wasn't sure.  I didn't get a good enough look.  I think the tail looks like a swimmer's tale and it does not look like the other non venomous swimming snake we had here before.

Thanks for the input.

[1shotwade]

Pick it up behind the head and squeeze to open it's mouth. Take a stick and rub the upper jaw front back to front and the fangs will be seen. Probably 3/8 to 1/2 inch for a snake that size. I'd find out for sure 'cause it's nesting season.


Wade

[Bear Foot Farm]

It could be a Cottonmouth or it may be a Broad Banded Water Snake.

Venomous snake's pupils are vertical like a cat.

The scales will be "keeled", having a slight ridge down the center of each one.

There will be a heat-sensing "pit" between the eye and the nostrils

The last belly scale before the anus will be one long scale rather than being divided

The shape of the tail won't tell you if it's a water snake, but can sometime indicate the sex, with that long taper appearing to be a male

[Deleted]

The head and eye do not look like a "cotton mouth" but it's hard to tell from that picture. Check the things Bear Foot Farm said and you should be able to tell more.

[mogal]

The local media carried a story about a man in Nixa MO, down near Springfield who was bitten twice by what they thought was a cottonmouth. He declined medical treatment because he thought he couldn't afford it but now his family is having to pay for his funeral. During the first coverage of the incident that I saw, there was a voice over by a man with the MO Dept. of Conservation who said that you needed to seek professional medical care in the case of any snake bite.


I saw a largish garter snake last week, the first snake of the season. This morning I got to practice my levitation skills when I thought a 4' shed skin was still filled. I'm not afraid of snakes but prefer them to be over THERE while I'm way over HERE.

Ya'll be careful out there in tall grass and such.

[Deleted]

Also, you might want to be careful about handling it even though it is dead. Prick your finger on a fang, and he may as well be alive...you got bit. I've seen a lot of cotton mouths, and from what I can see, I'd just assume it was one and dispose of it before a dog or cat tried to chew on it.

[mary]

Thanks. I did. I picked it up with a hoe, put it in an empty feed sack, and into the garbage can.

Possum, it's maybe shorter than it looks in the picture. It was smallish. Here's a picture of it dead to give you a better idea of the size.