Cottonmouth Question

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
Occasionally they are found around Raleigh/ up the Cape Fear
 
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stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Not unless 'Global Warming' has allowed them to. I95 is the traditional approximate boundary in NC.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
^^one has never been verified west of buffaloe creek. That is aprox here the Kioti plant is so no falls lake does not have any.
 
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QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have always heard that the Fall Line where the Piedmont meets the Coastal Plain was the western edge of their range. There are lots of maps that show the location of the Fall Line like the one in CRC's link. And I suspect there are some exceptions where they have crossed that line as well.
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I wouldn't expect to see one around Falls lake, but I wouldn't be totally surprised, either.
 
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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
I have always heard that the Fall Line where the Piedmont meets the Coastal Plain was the western edge of their range
This is what the state herpetologists have found over a 6 yr study. They taught me this when I worked for our Zoo.
Sooo, it does go both sides of I-95...….. in the southern counties.
The Northern Water Snake is OFTEN mistaken for a cottonmouth, since they both have a triangular head.
All my years swamp stomping while beaver trapping I've never seen them in northern Lee county but for sure in the southern half.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
My response to west of Buffolo creek is for Wake county only. one has never ever been verified west of buffaloe creek in wake Co.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Our pond in Richmond county close to Norman next to the new 220/73 has its share of them.

<>< Fish
I used to hunt right on the Richmond line. One of the guys lived right there and was always talking about how bad they were there on a creek at his place and having to keep them off when he would go fishing with his kids. I was kind of skeptical to I went with him once. You would just have to see them to believe it. It was right off 220/73 also.
 

double

Twelve Pointer
I used to hunt right on the Richmond line. One of the guys lived right there and was always talking about how bad they were there on a creek at his place and having to keep them off when he would go fishing with his kids. I was kind of skeptical to I went with him once. You would just have to see them to believe it. It was right off 220/73 also.

Richmond county is its own little world. Normal does not exist there. It would not surprise me if a bengal tiger came walking out of the woods at Grassy Island anytime. Probably Boas and Pythons there too. Its a weird little place but I love it.


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JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Thanks...coulda been a copperhead or a water snake. The thing was FAT! I actually saw it on land when I stopped to let the dog pee. The dogs chased it for a hot second but I hit the e collar and screamed at him and he left it.

Fat body, narrowing neck, head shape, pattern, all raised red flags...
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Seen them west of I-95 up here in Nash. I have seen them west of Hoffman on the Sandhills Game Lands. Here in Nash county especially in the Northwestern corner there were virtually no cottonmouths years ago. Beavers made a comeback in the 1980's and since I have seen a few cottonmouths west of the fall line. I think the beaver ponds created ideal habitat and allowed them to expand their range. Any river system that has cottonmouths on it, there would be no reason that a cotton mouth could not be west of the fall line. I could see them being around Raleigh on the Neuse and that would put them really close to Falls Lake. That said many a water snake has been mistaken as a cottonmouth.
 

GUP

Eight Pointer
2008 my boss and I were surveying in a
swamp just outside Wendell in wake co.
In total we probably saw around 10 snakes that day and I know for a fact a couple of them were cottonmouths. Was only about 5-6 feet away from them and took some pictures. Looked on line at photos of cottonmouths and they looked exactly the same as the pictures I took. So I’m pretty sure there’s at least a few in eastern wake co.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Thanks...coulda been a copperhead or a water snake. The thing was FAT! I actually saw it on land when I stopped to let the dog pee. The dogs chased it for a hot second but I hit the e collar and screamed at him and he left it.

Fat body, narrowing neck, head shape, pattern, all raised red flags...
Some water snakes get really fat, one reason they are mistaken for cottonmouths. Dogs chased it, doubt a cottonmouth would have ran. Those things can be ornery. Had one run me up on the truck hood once. I threw sand at it, to get it to move to get a better look. It moved OK , straight up out the ditch striking blind as it came toward me. I had to jump on the hood to get out of the way.
 

UpATree

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I always heard that the clay soil of the Piedmont was a problem for them, they preferred the black soil of the Coastal Plain. I also expect that you could find a rogue one or two after heavy rains, or drought, or rode in on somebody's vehicle/container. Like when you find an alligator or bear in a Wake subdivision.
 

Part-time hunter

Ten Pointer
Ii too hunted almost every inch of Butner/Falls Gamelands for a couple of decades both inland areas and around the water. I saw water snakes and rat snakes a plenty but never saw a single cottonmouth. That is testimonial evidence which is far from conclusive. I take those arbitrarily drawn range boundaries to be more like guidelines than rules and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there were some around Falls Lake or even further west. I don't think they can tell when they've crossed one of those boundary lines. I've seen mocs both in my old home county or Richmond and a lot of them when I lived in SC. On a related matter, since we moved down to Wilmington I've seen my first and only Eastern Diamondback Rattler and I hope to never see another one. Those things can get huge.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
would not surprise me if a bengal tiger came walking out of the woods


how did you hear about that? I was keeping it to myself as no one would believe me,,,

got this one on the ol' game camera about 10 miles from Grassy Island

imagee5c787d1-4d04-4c5c-963c-61d0fa87ae6f.jpg
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Thanks...coulda been a copperhead or a water snake. The thing was FAT! I actually saw it on land when I stopped to let the dog pee. The dogs chased it for a hot second but I hit the e collar and screamed at him and he left it.

Fat body, narrowing neck, head shape, pattern, all raised red flags...
your first clue may have been that it allowed the dog to "chase it for a hot second"
A cottonmouth would likely have just bit the dog or you or both if you screwed with it.
Learned that lesson on currituck many moons ago.
I have no idea of their official range.
 

JohnBoat

Banned
Northern water snakes look very very similar. In the 5 years I've been in Johnston county I've never seen a cotton mouth. Spent a good amount of time on the neuse and it's banks. As well as some local ponds.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Northern water snakes l


had one of them things kept coming up in the backyard at night (hunting toads I reckon) and getting close to the jack russel's pen,,,,if he was in it he would raise a storm,,,I'd go out to see what it was and there'd be that water snake just hanging around,,,I'd tote him to the pond,,,

that happened three nights in a row,,,dang snake couldn't take a hint,,,kept coming back up and hanging out at the dog pen,,,,

it was better than the rattlesnake that decided to crawl into my beagles pen one night,,,,that was an adventure,,,that beagle had it bayed up behind the water pan,,,,

snakes are cool,,,,until they get aggravating
 

kahunter

Eight Pointer
your first clue may have been that it allowed the dog to "chase it for a hot second"
A cottonmouth would likely have just bit the dog or you or both if you screwed with it.
Learned that lesson on currituck many moons ago.
I have no idea of their official range.
Currituck county is the snakiest county in NC or VA. There are more cottonmouths there than anywhere I have ever seen. We burn our marsh for the ducks, but I think the snakes benefit more. We burned for the first time in 10 years when I was in college. I have never seen more cottonmouths in my life. Its nothing to see 5 or 6 in an hour when we walk out on our path in the summer.
I also think misidentification happens all of the time, and it tends to lean towards the poisonous snakes. Every snake is a cottonmouth to most people just like every plant is poison ivy
 
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