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.....