Snake Sightings?

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
In NC I read once that cottouths are limited to eastern part of state East of I95.
There was actually a discussion on that subject a few years ago on NCH&F. I have never seen one west of I95, but others said they had. The largest cottonmouth I ever saw was on a log jam on the Tar River near Dunbar, between Tarboro and Rocky Mount, which is not too far East of I95.
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Your Northern Cottonmouth article starts off..."The northern cottonmouth is a heavy-bodied..." Would you describe the snake in post #70 as heavy bodied?
Humans may also generally be described as having two arms and legs. Except the ones that don’t. There are always exceptions - that’s why you use multiple identifiable traits to verify.

Feel free to tell us what kind of snake it is, specifically, and why.
 

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I caught a cottonmouth fishing one time, that is the picture I am looking for now. Like all cottonmouths, it had a thick and puggy body.
 

Ex Military

Eight Pointer
Don't know and don't care. I never tried to identify what it actually is, and have no desire to. But I know what it is not, the narrow body eliminates it from being a cottonmout Cottonmouths were short and stubby.

I caught a cottonmouth fishing one time, that is the picture I am looking for now. Like all cottonmouths, it had a thick and puggy body.
I believe all Cottonmouths are thick and puggy.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I have seen cottonmouths west of I-95. They have seemed to spread a little more westward when the beavers moved in 40 or so years ago. The fall line is the general boundary for habitat. I think beavers have created favorable habitat on and west of this boundary. I have definitely seen more in the last few decades. I have definitely seen them in the Sandhills. When I was part of the RCW research on Bragg and the Sandhills gamelands, I never walked out through the inkberries of the streamhead pocosins the same way I walked in. I actually had one strike at me after a buddy had stomped all around one he didn't see. It landed beside my foot, I'm just glad it didn't attempt to bite then. If some one wants to see cottonmouths just walk the roads at Pollocks Ferry Gamelands in the the summer months, especially if it is dry. Hunting there is one reason I have been wearing "snake proof" boots for years. Heck about any where east of Weldon on the Roanoke is a good place to do your self-study. Seem some dandy ones at Pollocks Ferry and Broadneck.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Hard to believe this has went on so long....lol
1st....that pic appears to be a Cottonmouth. Not every one of them are thick especially small young ones.
2nd....I have seen them West of 95 but it was still within a few miles.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Coloration isn’t 100% in IDing anything but in college we were told no matter the pattern, the dark bar across the eye was pretty definitive for a cottonmouth. That one has it.
I really don’t understand why this is debatable to some of you. Also, if you go back and look at the posted pics, the snake really isn’t that skinny. Look at how quickly it tapers to the tail. It’s been beat to hell too. Is it stupidly fat? No, but definitely more portly of a build than a lot of the other snakes. A lot of photos, and encounters with cottonmouths are when they’re “blown up” so to speak when they flatten themselves out to make them more formidable. Pattern is spot on as all, but rarely pay attention to as it’s often not clearly seen on some.
IMG_4382.jpegIMG_4383.jpeg
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Here it is, short and stubby, as they all are. Excuse the poor picture, I was more concerned with recovering my topwater bait. This is what cottonmouths look like...

View attachment 117213
They aren’t “all” that way. Look at the very distinctive pattern of the two you’ve posted and that of post 70. Ray Charles could see that they’re the same. Not to mention the many other indicators.
 

Vannoyboy

Eight Pointer
I killed 5 here last week, most I have seen in years. One copperhead died of shovel poisoning in my driveway, My neighbor killed a black snake with a bright red belly. I have never seen one like it before. Do any of you know anything about one like that?
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
I killed 5 here last week, most I have seen in years. One copperhead died of shovel poisoning in my driveway, My neighbor killed a black snake with a bright red belly. I have never seen one like it before. Do any of you know anything about one like that?
Probably plain bellies water snake
 

BigBow

Ten Pointer
Contributor
HuntingNut says "I don't mess with 'em. If they're where I want to be, they die. If they ain't, I just move along". In my limited experience w/ Water Moccasins, my cousin & I were where the snake decided he wanted to be & that was with us in the little wooden 10 ft johnboat that we were paddling about in a small blackwater swamp pond in Duplin Co. while frog giggin'. The Cottonmouth was coiled unseen about 2 ft. away from a Bullfrog that we targeted on the water's edge. We desperately paddled the boat in reverse when "old no shoulders" slipped into the water & headed our way. I churned the water surface to a froth w/ the boat paddle & probably never touched the snake. And hell yea, don't try to tell me that this fat stubby viper was not a Cottonmouth, but a Water Snake. I think it was p.o.'d that we disturbed its late night snack. Needless to say we decided to gig elsewhere that night.
 
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Rescue44

Old Mossy Horns
I'm approximately 20 miles west of 95, 1 mile north of SC. I have seen numerous cottonmouths.
By what's around the snake, I don't think it's very long.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
Who said it was "non-venomous"? I didn't.

Sir.
I have read over and over where you vehemently stated the snake in the picture was a Northern Water Snake. Northern Water Snakes are non-venomous, therefore have no fangs. There's fangs in the mouth of that chopped off head.
 
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