Cotton mouth alert

I didnt get a chance for a photo, happened quick..
Friday 6:00 pm corner of my dock had the biggest Cotton mouth I've seen in at least 30 yrs. 3-1/2 footer big around as a beer can, the freaking head was thick as pack of cigarettes.. this thing was huge..

Made a pellet gun shot to that head, from 15ft it bucked up keeled over the edge and slide lifeless into the water...
So watch out on hanging up on docks or limbs... Bass fishing public announcement...

Cotton mouth's are evil snakes and vicious. Had one at Fork try to get in the boat with me once.

Yeppers, know that feeling and it ain't good! Had that happen on EM lake 3 times year before last.
Mean and angry critters...IMO (for the snake lovers here)
God Bless (us all)

Kill em all

Goodness them things are fearless and by the way good shot .

Have to start calling you dead eye Billy! Well done! Only good cottonmouth...

A lot of people confuse water snakes with cottonmouths. But Billy's description, short and thick, is right on for a cottonmouth. A 3.5 footer is a monster.
I'm an animal lover, but not these guys. Good job Red.

Thanks for the heads up Billy. The only good one is a dead one IMO.

the day a snake tries to get in my boat with me is the day I sell my boat and fishing gear.

A snake is a snake 6 inches or 6 feet doesn't matter kill em all. No way I would have shot it with a pellet gun. This calls for a P320
Nice going Billy

Should be gettin' a call from the SPCA shortly.

Lemme know I might be interested.

Better start getting and idea of how much to price your stuff.. if you're on the water very much, it's gonna happen.
One of the funniest things I've witnessed in person was a big old boy close to 300 lbs fishing the rear seat, he notice a 5 foot black diamond water snake had slithered up around his seat pedistal... He screamed like a little girl ran to the front and crawl on top of the skinny 140lb guy on the troling motor.. That was next to the bridge on 2966 at coffee creek.. I laughed till I hurt...
I've had many a snake try to get in the boat, the more remote, the more the odds.
.

Well done sir!

A few years back I was night fishing at Grapevine. I went to move spots and noticed something on the back deck. I though maybe I left a worm bag or something out. I went to reach for it and it moved... Luckily it was just a water snake. Still gave me the hebie jebies. I couldn't fish the rest of the night without worrying something was in the boat. Never thought to look at my hotfoot at night until then!

Saw this one in LHouston yesterday, good 7-8 ft up, think this is a DB watersnake though, we used to see them ALL over Fayette years ago. Would not be welcome still in my boat!!

Great! Sounds like the sucker we killed last year on our deck!

There's snakes in Lake Fork?? I know when there's alot of rain, the current goin into the sink hole in the back of Williams, draws a lot of snakes and other stuff!!

I'm a field biologist. Nature lover. Hiker, camper, etc. I know all snakes play an important ecological role and are beneficial. I know only a subset of snakes are venomous. I know that excellent scientific studies have shown that cotton mouths are far, far less likely to bite humans than water snakes. They are "aggressive" in the sense that they have a very effective "aggressive" anti-predator behavior that includes showing the white, "cotton" mouth. I know, I know, I know. I'm still scared to death of them and squeal like a little girl when I am startled by one. I don't even like seeing them from ten yards away.

There is that young biologist who makes YouTube videos, catches all sorts of reptiles and then gives a short primer about them. He was showing how very non-aggressive cottonmouths are by setting up in front of them, getting them to posture up, then repeatedly nudging them with his boot. I don't think he ever got one to strike. And, they are typically blunt shaped, not very long, swim with more of their bodies on top of the water than submerged. Eyes are different, anal scales different.

Don't get that close to any water snakes.

Sounds like a good "id" to me, too, based on the description given.

Be wary, though . . . next up might be the old tall tale about the guy falling off his skis and getting bitten by 100 cottonmouths in the water. It even made it into the great western movie (not the water skis but a cattle crossing), Lonesome Dove, as a scene.

Brad

if you can ID it that way, you are WAYYYYY too close!

A lot of people confuse water snakes with cottonmouths. But Billy's description, short and thick, is right on for a cottonmouth. A 3.5 footer is a monster.
I'm an animal lover, but not these guys. Good job Red. [/quote]

Joe you are right when you say they get confused with a water snake. Best reason to kill em all.

LMBO, but he's on the right end of him though.

...and the rodents take over... I know you’re being hyperbolic, snakes are the balance. Sure, it is a common sentiment and they startle with the way they move. On the whole, I think they are cool creatures!

That's the only snake that really scares me.........

Please.... I have little grand babies running around... I can buy rat traps for out of the way spots.. they mostly eat aquatic anyway... fish, frogs and the like.. one day when you're older with kids or grandkids you always protect them, ( from themselves )

40 years ago I had a old Skeeter with front stick steering and a storm came up on Cedar Creek. I went to the Very back of the cove I was in to get out of wind and rain. I pulled up next to a grassy bank and when I did a 3ft Cotton Mouth ( not water snake ) jumped from the grass and flew right by me into the boat. The Snake got to back on the boat and turned and started back to the front where I was in shock. I reached for a metal paddle in the boat and Beat the Snake to Death. The Funny part while killing the Snake I cut every wire and cable in the bottom of the boat. The Boat was never the same.

I (Thought) i killed a large cotten mouth while at my place on fork last weekend cleaning up getting ready for the spring. Put the (i thought) dead snake in the fish net to take over to show my buddie at his place. As i tried to scare him with it and it began to smell i just threw the net (with the dead snake) in the lake. 10 min later it swam away......I hate snakes.

Around 2003, me and two buddies were fishing down around the point of little caney when the guy in the back says you see that cottonmouth swimming towards us, I said swat it when if it gets to close. It kept swimming towards the boat got about 5 yards and the guy yells at me and he goes to swatting. I turn the trolling motor up to 100% and start to hit it when he screams it’s in the boat. It struck two or three times at his rod and swam on the set back plate and curled up there. By this time all three of us were on the front deck. At the this point I thought well hell what do I do now. Finally after what seemed forever, probably a minute or two I’m thinking how am I going to get this behemoth out of the boat, mind you the three of us are not small guys, two of us over 200 and the guy in the back was well over 300. I finally decided we’ll start the main and see what happens. Luckily it swam off. To add insult to injury about 5 minutes later the game warden pulls up to check us and I go to telling him about the experience and looks at me and said “so you are the guys, you mean to tell me that your 150 wouldn’t outrun that snake.” The story had already spread around the lake that 3 grown men were squealing like little girls on the front deck.

cottonmouths and rattlesnakes swim with their entire body on top of the water whereas watersnakes swim mostly submerged with only head out of the water....
lived for years and fished oxbow lakes in Miss. Delta where there were a lot of snakes because we didn't have alligators at the time...we also would hang stringers of fish over the side of the jon boats we fished out of..cottonmouths were real aggressive about trying to get in the boat...like all the fishermen during that period,I've slapped a lot of snakes with a sculling paddle to run them away from the boat....

Yes Sir it's getting that time of year. Snakes will be on the move!

well played pumadon

I had a water snake crawl up the transom and get in the boat with me on Cypress Springs a couple of years ago. I saw it coming and tried to troll away but couldn't move fast enough to escape it. I broke a rod trying to pry it off the bottom of the outboard.

I've broke several rods swatting at those dang snakes, and yes, I'll do it again. I have a phobia.

Kill em all, and if they get in the boat, just burn the whole thing. I HATE them suckers. I carry a pre-rednose pellet pistol on the boat just in case such a thing should happen.

I've thankfully never had a cottonmouth chase us, but I did have a pygmy rattler swim out of some reeds right past my engine last summer. I didn't notice till he was past us and heading for open water, full 18-20" of his body on top of the water. Had my kids in the boat with me too so we hightailed it out of there. Scary thing is we usually jump in the water when someone needs to "go potty", shake a leg, then jump out and dry off. We had just jumped back in the boat less than 10 feet from that spot.

That's the day I found out that pretty much all rattlesnakes love water and don't mind swimming around on it, chasing families all over creation and scaring Daddies just to get their kicks.

Had about a 4’ diamondback water snake tag along with me beside the boat for about 30 yds on Hubbard Wednesday. I guess he didn’t get the memo that the water temp was 52 degrees and he shouldn’t have been out playing...Never seen a snake that active before in that cold of water.

I wish I could've stopped myself from reading beyond the title of this thread.

Glad to see you saw it in time before it was too late take care buddy.

Have any of you guys ever been bit by a cotton mouth? I have read million posts about them, and I got a few stories myself, but have never heard anyone post about gitting bit. I have read about dogs getting bit.

Oh my, that ski boat needs 10 gallons of gas and a match. That's a mess of snakes!!

Awe he77 no!

Those are Black Diamond water snakes...

That pic has been around for ever. It's not texoma. I think those are Lake Erie water snakes

Seems every snake a fisherman spots in the water is a cottonmouth. Very often they're diamondback water snakes - very common here in Texas and non-venomous. They're naturally curious and like to investigate boats and kayaks. I've had to whack more than a few with my rod tip to keep them out of my kayak, but they're not the devil incarnate. They'll swim off with enough encouragement. Not reason to go killing wildlife because you can't properly identify a snake.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Gardner snake or above it will die if I see it.

Amen brother. I can always verify identity after I dig its body out of the ashes of the firepit.

And that’s why my Glock gets a mag full of shotshell whenever I am fishing. Not gonna hurt one that’s not bothering me but just in case things get too up close and personal...

GAHH those things scare the heck outta me! If one gets on the deck with me, you’ll witness a human running on water!

Is a pigmy rattler dangerous ?

Here's a link to one of the best studies that I know: https://srelherp.uga.edu/projects/docs/Gibbons&Dorcas2002.pdf

Less than half of the cottonmouths that were picked up with a gloved artificial hand bit the hand. A very small percentage of cotton mouths that were stepped on bit and none of the cottonmouths bit when a person stood beside them. I met the authors of this study many years ago. Whit Gibbons is a legend among herpetologists. Those guys had some pretty crazy stories.

Was fishing with my buddy Kenny years ago on Tawakoni. We were up under a over hanging tree flipping into some heavy cover when I hit the tree with my rod. Cottonmouth fell on the front right in front of us. My buddy took off. I stood there as still as I could and the snake took off and went right across the top of my sandaled feet. My buddy was already at the back of the boat and looked like he was trying to figure out which way to jump. The snake was heading to the point of either going down in the boat or off to the side. He decided to go right off the side of the boat at that time and right into the water. Kenny was terrified and could not believe I had just stood there during the whole ordeal. I told him "It wasn't like that snake was going to attack me or anything!" I played it cool but in reality I almost had a heart attack and was so scared I couldn't move at the time. We probably would have injured ourselves fighting to see who would get to the back the quickest.

They are not known to produce enough venom to deliver a "fatal" bite to an adult.............but it's enough to make you wish you'd never been bit.

We have tons of them up here this year. They don't normally kill, but they can and will put you in the hospital. They're small but they're the chihuahuas of the snake world. Small and quiet (rarely rattle) but they act like they're 80 ft long and made of fire.

Had one do the same. Wouldn't have been that big an issue for me except we were fishing a night tournament and visibilty was very low and didn't see him coming until he was almost in the splash well. Good thing he didn't make it in because I would have shot holes all in that boat trying to take him out.

Cousin got bit by one about 6-7 years ago. Stepped over an old log walking in the woods and it popped him in the ankle. I killed it and we brought it with us as fast as we could get back to house. 4 viles of anti venom and several 100 thousand dollars layer he was a-ok. Stayed in hospital 2 days. Whole leg from knee down swelled up like a football and was red like it been burnt.