As a kid, I flipped over a big piece of roofing felt with the barrel of my pellet gun and there was a ball of snakes under it.

As a kid, I flipped over a big piece of roofing felt with the barrel of my pellet gun and there was a ball of snakes under it.

I believe that is a rattle headed copper moccasin. One bit an elephant one time down in Del Rio and died in less than 5 seconds. Not the elephant, the snake. Do I get 1st place in the story telling ?

Don't use the shape of the eye or the shape of the head as an indicator for venomous or not. Some venomous snakes will have round eyes, and several snakes will flatten their head and make themselves look big and venomous, when they simply aren't. As a kid growing up, I fished ponds and streams a ton, like I'm sure many here did. I came across so many snakes over the years, including stepping down on a ball of snakes (didn't get bit, did poop my pants) I figured it was best to learn how to properly ID venomous vs non-venomous snakes, in case I ever did get tagged.

Through the years I have seen countless water snakes, that most call water moccasins, but have only come across a few actual water moccasins.

As for the kid taking countless bites and dying after jumping into a pond, I'm with Brad. I've heard a ton of versions of this story over the years, and I've seen Lonesome Dove, but I have yet to find anything that substantiates such a story.

What venomous snake in Texas has round pupils, other than a Coral Snake?

Fouzman, I know it's not common, as most that are vonomous have the vertical pupil, but some can have a rounded pupil as well. I think it's more common in Copperheads than Cottonmouth's, but not really common in either, if that makes sense.



Here is a link with a pic of a Copperhead with a rounded pupil.

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/w...b5499a58e_z.jpg

Yes, I have seen "balls" of snakes, that is, multiple small adolescent snakes under large pieces of flat material, say a big piece of tin roofing. They are attracted to the warmth . . . and food. Or, sometimes you just happen to uncover some new born snakes that haven't dispersed yet.

Orry Martin does some videos. I believe he is a high school biology teacher down near Houston. They are informative.

One warning though: Even though Martin squats down in front of an adult water moccasin, I wouldn't recommend it. He also states incorrectly, I think, that large water snakes such as diamondback water snakes are harmless. Well, they DO bite and while their bite carries no venom, it might have just eaten some nasty vermin and carry all sorts of bacteria and germs. So, if you are bitten, you'll want to wash the wound, keep a close eye on it.

Better? Most of us just naturally avoid snakes. A good policy.

Brad

Watch Orry here:

On Water Moccasins

The copperhead in the photo has a dilated vertical pupil. The photo was shot at night and the eye hadn't yet responded to the flash of the camera.

This one was crawling across a dock yesterday on Athens... Texas rat snake, I believe. Father-in-law about came unglued when he looked up and saw me with it!

i would have tossed it over to him.

happycampr,

Drop them off at my place on Lake Athens . . . any time!

We found a 6 ft.+ rat snake last summer . . . it had come out of the woods and was getting ready for some evening hunting.

I have seen quite a few really large bullfrogs and various amphibians (Mudpuppies by the dozens), turtles . . . but I have seen very few water snakes where we are on the lake. I haven't seen any water moccasins, either, though east Texas in general has its fair share of them, that is for sure.

Brad

P.S. Drop a rat snake in your attic if you have mice, they claim. They'll make short work of the problem. How do they get out eventually? The same way the mice got in. Hmm? Seems plausible to me. br

I have a friend who's brother used to jump off of rock quarrys who died from multiple bites. I remember it clearly because that was the end of jumping this specific quarry. Like said before if you want to test it jump into a nest and tell us how it went

Interesting. I assume you are a photographer. I will take your word for it.

Let me put it another way. Not all cottonmouth and copperheads are going to have the extreme vertical pupil like the one I've linked below. The shape of the pupil can vary, where even a non-venomous snake may have a pupil shape that isn't perfectly round.

My point was, eye shape isn't the best used indicator, according to herpetologist. Pattern is the recommended method for identifying species.

https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/6985287.jpg

Pretty sure Pope is a Herpetologist, Gibby. When he speaks of amphibians and reptiles, I listen.