That is the push poll and lethal weapon that ended the snake madness.

Water snake and they are of a bad temperament ! Harmless but will make you wet your pants.

Probably go something like this: snake would hit, you would yell..er..scream for momma, shat your pants, and dance/jump around til the snake let go... then bleed a little from the fang holes. Now, if you really think this is a Water Moccasin(99.9% it aint), you will take out your Bowie knife, cut a BIG-arse X across each hole, have your friend suck it and spit out the non-existent poison (John Wayne style). Probably take 15-20 stitches to handle your knife work plus the expense of the trip to Doc in the Box. BUT, if you are confident it is a banded water snake (99.9% it is), just stop the bleeding, take proper care of the wound, Band-Aid + Neosporin, no infection or other physical problems will occur. Mentally, we got a different story. From bite-time on, you will always be paranoid about the next one... looking very careful under, over, beside every bit of possible cover, one of your eyes will always be trained on the ground...no matter where you were, around water or not... Bad dreams, nightmares, increased backlashes and god forbid what would happen to the friend who leaves a rubber snake in your boat. Conclusion: Scarred for life! Yep, the only good thing to come out of a bite from this BIG ARSE snake would be if your friend got the bite and show on film. You might be able to make money on one of the late night shows, youtube, or some how-to/how-not-to web site... maybe even enough to offset the cost of the afore mentioned medical attention.

Just my .02 dollars worth...

The head looks straight to me, chicken snake, we killed one just like it in Grand Saline

I aint read thru all the replys to this cause snakes threads are usually full of carp... I agree with the water snake ID, they are mean as hell but ain';t poison, when I was younger another name for poison cotton mouths was stump tail moccasins, if ya ever seen one ya know why, that aint no stump tail.

OK Cam, I hate snakes - next time I catch a rattlesnake at the ranch, I'm bringing it to fork and put it in one of your girly tupperware tubs you store baits in. PS. I'm bigger than bob. I just know it. lol

Not much, other than you'd bleed a bit. That is NOT a cottonmouth. The head is triangular, but it isn't shaped correctly. It's hard to describe, but a cottonmouth's head doesn't have the curved edges of this diamondback watersnake. The top of the head is flattened, and there is a "sharp" edge above the nose/mouth area. Very common mistake, given the myth that only poisonous snakes have the triangular-shaped head. Here is a good picture of one:

Oh, and they have a big white mouth!

THATS HUGE!

That's why I bought the stainless 3" Taurus Judge.

The snake in the first picture is a Texas rat snake and the snake in the other pictures is a diamondback water snake. Both are completely harmless. They don't stalk people and prefer to avoid human contact. The only reason they try to get in your boat is because they are swimming from point "a" to point "b" and snakes get tired very easily and see your boat as a place to rest. Just toss them back in the water if they try to get in. Killing them demonstrates a great level of ignorance. I am a biologist and have spent years studying snakes here in the north Texas area, including venomous ones like copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlers, and I have never had one chase me or stalk me. They just want to be left alone. Most venomous snake bites here in the U.S. come from people who are trying to kill them. Remember, they were here first and we moved into their territory.

you just gave me a great idea.

I agree with mdmn , this snake is not a cottonmouth . Google cottonmouth and check them out , I lived on Lake Graham and Possum Kingdom all my life and caught probably as many snakes growing up as anyone around and never saw a true cottonmouth until I was down around Houston , my son and I knew what it was when we first saw it and there was quite a few of them on that place . I've seen several around LBJ while fishing . Best advice I can give you is to leave all alone , especially if you don't know what they are. Also they all had pointed tails and most of them were 15" to about 25" long .

I know a cottonmouth is a water moccasin, but is a water moccasin necessarily a cottonmouth?

I'll tell you what I know - and that is ANY SNAKE trying to get in my boat is TOO BIG and is gonna end up dead!

-Alton