Me and my brother went out to Gibbons Creek this past Monday, winds were going in the morning so we headed back into the creeks. In one of the creeks, there was a fallen tree that went across the creek that was still growing sideways!Im talking, half of it is in the water! so we see where some boats have made a path so we take route... slowly paddling in my 14 v hull(no trolling motor at the moment) 2 feet behind us was this guy suspended above! He was Still as a rock. and SCARED THE SH@t outa us... wasnt sure what type of snake it was, so i snapped a couple photos of the close encounter!


so what do you think water moccasin?




some random pictures of the creek before the fallen tree
(shouldve taken pictures of that fallen tree but i was little occupied, with what? Paddling away from that tree!)

i killed one a week ago mon on fork that was 4 1/2 ft long and as big around as my arm ,all pit vipers have triangular heads cant tell by the pic but it does seem to have the same markings as a mocasin

looks like it

I'm going to say now. I believe it's just a banded water snake. The head doesn't appear diamond shaped and it's too long and skinny. I would not think it's common for the to be in trees. If it swam in the creek, did it's body completely float? that is a dead give away.

Hard to confirm by out of focus pic, but I have been seeing Texas Diamondback Water Snakes (a non-poisonous but agressive species) in that particular area. I took my Ranger around that same laydown also on Monday and then went about another 1/4 mile or more before running out of daylight and returning to the main Lake. I didn't see you and luckily, the tree was not occupied with I went crawling around it.

All snakes are cotton mouths arn't they?

Brant King actually i gave the snake a gentle nudge and it went straight into the water..sank.didnt see a trace of him after that and he for sure didnt float.... what does that make it? lol

hey Lou i cant believe you got your rig back through that creek. we had pulled in a couple bass 1-2 pounders at the entrance. did you have any luck back there? or on the lake?

Well, if you had nudged it gently with a 12ga, and it sank, that would have made it a dead snake.

Hard to say, pics aren't quite clear enough. Looked like a water moccasin to me. Given that it retreated under water when provoked, leads me to think banded water snake. Pit vipers don't generally prefer to remain under water for extended periods. Water moccasins are also known to be more aggressive, maybe choosing not to retreat when threatened.

It looks like a cotton mouth.

I would have ran either way, after fishing from a float tude for many years anything that looks like a snake freaks me out!!

Let's just say this you (the snake) stay there and leave me (the fishing dude) alone and I won't have to shoot you to get my point across that I do not like snakes. That seems fair to me?

I agree with Brant King and call it a Banded Water Snake. I am no herpatologist but spend a lot of time in the creeks chasing spawining fish and see this species very often and UP-CLOSE and they are not a pit viper therefore it cannot be a cottonmouth.

Either way, it is not welcome in my boat.

Not all snakes are poisonious, but all snakes bite. So I'd be paddling fast too. Makes my skin crawl! BBUUGGGHHHHH!!!!

water mocasin for sure look at the width in the first pic.....

Picture is to fuzzy to tell for sure. Markings make me say water snake. Water mocassins have almost no markings. They are pretty much solid with lighter bellies than a water snake. They also have a blunter tail. The head is too out of focus so I cannot tell by it. I used to hunt them as a kid. The neighbors loved it when I walked down the street with one.

Remember when Richard Pryor ran on water, when the piranha was tearinig his @$$ up? That would have been me, trying to get away from that snake....I'm not scared of them, I just don't like them

Water snake no doubt about it. Should have whacked him with that paddle, the only good snake is a Dead snake!

They are very aggresive

+1

It is a banded water snake! They are very aggressive and stink!! They do have triangular heads and mock a cottonmouth!!! The only easy way to tell is the eyes!! All poisonous snakes have cat eyes and look like a slit in the eye.

whatever! let any of you fella's pick that "banded water snake" up, haha! Cotton Mouth. Look how fat it is where it's hanging in pic #1, and looks like an arrowhead to me.

It is a banded watersnake. Using head shape is a poor method of identifying a venomous snake. Here is a photo of a juvenile and you can see is has a pointed head most would consider a "diamond" shaped head.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/banded%20water%20snake/reptileman93/BandedWaterSnake1.jpg

Water Moccasin absolutely!
I Bet ya, bet ya, bet ya....!

Try this link for Western Water Moccasin. Some pretty good photos.

http://www.greglasley.net/wcottonmouth.html

It looks like it is the bad boy. The only way to tell for sure is capture and look to see if the bands extend around the belly. If they extend ever so slightly its not. The other is the eye pupil is slit horizantaly on the moccasin. Until you know for sure by a glance better to play it safe. They have a tendency to be thicker at the tail end then dimond back water snakes.The rising water had one up in my yard today and it got away from me in the bushes. My place is loaded with water snakes and todays was a moccasin. I hate that it got away, makes me really nerous working in the yard.

Thanks for the link live2fish. Definitely Agkistrodon piscivorus. Below is its' closest relative Agkistrodon contortrix. The link at the bottom is the link to my photobucket account. I should have some Nerodia(water snakes) shots in there as well along with lots of shots of my boy in "snake action."




http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i144/TunaPope/

Cotton mouths are thick in the middle and have a stubby tail. Chalky color when dry and dark in water.

This thread is why Ross Perot said
"If it's a snake kill it! Don't appoint a comittee on snakes.

It would be in your best interest to pretend every snake was a moccasin and give it a wide path

definately a moccasin, most def. most ppl aouldnt get close enough to see their markings, but i have caught many and im 99% sure the snake in the picture is one of them.

agreed, that dark two tone color and the head looks wide like a viper.

I want to be clear about my former statement. I agreed live2fish's link was a cottonmouth. The original photo is a banded water snake.

Looks more like a water snake. They all scare me though.

That boy ain't right!

Take at look at this web site produced here in Texas.

I still say Western Cotton Mouth.........

http://www.texasherp.info/uploads/profile-Wcottonmouth.pdf

This web site is from Houston. It is for the Broad Banded Water Snake.

I still say Western Cotton Mouth ........

http://www.houstonherp.com/BroadBandedWS.html

Where's Steve Irwin when we need him? too soon still?

A final comparison of photos between the Blotched Water Snake and a Western Cottonmouth and everyone can make their own informed decision.

http://www.texashuntfish.com/app/forum/29203/Blotched-Water-Snake-vs-Cottonmouth-Water-Snake/Let-s-Talk-Texas-Outdoors-Wildlife-Management;jsessionid=ADDAD19BA9F7E553B51347FE2D18C8CD


Mistaken identity could be serious ....

Since you have to cut n paste that link, try this one for photos of adult Blotched Water Snake. Its from Austin.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/preserves/fotosnk06.htm

Undoubtedly cotton mouth, but I really don't feel my opinion contributed anything because this thread is simply going to go back and forth.

Undoubtedly not a Cottonmouth. It is for sure a water snake. Looks to be a Diamond-backed Water Snake. It is too long, not thick enough, the head shape is wrong, the eyes are too round, the color is not right, and many more for it to not be a Western Cottonmouth. It is harmless unless you are a medium to small fish or frog.

Just a Diamondback Water Snake.....Cottonmouths are stubbier and fatter and shorter.....Everyone thinks a water snake is a cottonmouth

Picture of the Water Moc looks like a sausage with a tail. Looking at that I don't know what the heck your snake was. I haven't seen a water moccasin in person yet. Having snakes over head that's not good.

I did see a diamond back water snake on my land ... I don't think that is one, maybe the blotched.

Someone said see if the eye is like a cat ... I don't know about you, but I don't want to get that close to see.

Too hard to tell with the photo being blurry and far away, but I can almost gaurantee you its not. The pattern isnt quite right.

Here are 2 of the other water snakes found in Texas that I have seen a dozen people swear they are cottonmouths. Notice how the northern watersnake puffs its head out to look triangular. I catch a couple dozen snakes each year while fishing/camping.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/51528/texas_water_snakes.html?cat=53

The really cool / good thing about Cottonmouth's is once you really see one and there is no doubt it is one, you will never ever forget it or confuse it with a non-poisonous water snake!

D

I'm going to say it is not a cottonmouth. Been chased many of times by them jokers and haven't ever seen one run from anything

Also they will submerge under water, they love to hide in trees in order to sun above water line and they also will give off a horrible smell. Trust me from years in the woods of Louisiana you do not want to get anywhere close to a cottonmouth.

the man has spoken.

don't argue w/ a herper!

I'm pretty darn good at snake Id's, but I thought that was a Cottonmouth myself!

Almost everyone of those pictures is not a cottonmouth

its a Copper Headed Rattle Moccasin,and it needs to die...LOL

Those Rattle Mocassin are bad news. LOL My Dad would give him the boat if he happened to jump in with him. Had an uncle shoot three holes in his john boat while he as bream fishing and a snake fell in the boat. Never did hit the snake. LOL

Needs more bullet holes in it.

I've been catching snakes, keeping snakes, raising snakes all my life. I've caught hundreds of water snakes over the years, and plenty of southern cottonmouths. Even where cottonmouths are common, you see at least 50:1 water snakes to cottonmouths, unless you're looking for them at night. They are noctournal like all pit vipers. They use pits between their eyes and nostrils to hunt their food by infrared heat signature. Seeing a cottonmouth during the day is as rare as seeing a possum during the day. It just doesn't happen very often.

Prettiest snake in Texas IMO

I would like to know the story behind the guy getting bit on the face!

A pretty snake is a dead snake!

This thread reminds me of the old episode of Jimmy Huston's show where he was out in his brand new beautiful boat and a snake dropped in on them. His fishing partner outs with a .357 cannon and starts blasting holes in Jimmy's new boat. Funniest eposide of any fishing show I've ever watched!

water snake.....

the darker colors make me lean towards moccasin.

By the pattern and shape of the body as well as the size of the head, I'd probably have to say it is either a northern or banded water snake. I own tons of them and some of my bigger ones look exactly like this guy here. They are extremely aggressive when handled but are not venomous and will usually retreat underneath water or damp debris when encountered. I actually found my very first water snake, which happened to be a gravid female, crawling from a tree next to a river much like this one. Head shape alone cannot be reliable for telling venomous from none venomous, the best way to tell is by the eyes, none venomous have rounded pupils. while venomous have slanted pupils. Another good way is that all vipers like moccasins have more pertruding heat sensors above their top "lip" and above their eyes and have far more segments of glands there than a non venomous one.

"More pertruding" and "more venom segments." This must be resurrect the snake post and espouce disinformation day.