Florida Water Moccasin Swimming

Many water snakes get a bad rap because of the water moccasin.

Florida water moccasin swimming. Western florida and. So we had to educa. Water moccasins aka cottonmouth is one of the most aggressive snakes in the world. Water moccasins may be found swimming in swamps marshes drainage ditches and at the edges of ponds lakes and streams.

One of these is the venomous cottonmouth also known as the water moccasin. The snakes are thick and dark colored with a heavy body with the neck smaller than the body and with the tail tip long and thin. The cottonmouth or water moccasin is a dark colored heavy bodied snake that can grow to an average of 2 4 feet in length. Before striking the snake will open its mouth which reveals a distinct white inside and this is where the name cottonmouth comes from.

Four years ago i had the privilege to swim with a very beautiful cottonmouth moccasin agkistrodon piscivorus. Cottonmouths agkistrodon piscivorus sadly harmless snakes are often killed out of fear for the safety of family and pets. Harmless watersnake or venomous water moccasin. Fortunately by observing a snake s swimming behavior you can distinguish cottonmouths from harmless water.

The florida water moccasin the western water moccasin and the eastern water moccasin grow to an adult size from 8 to 48 inches long with a record length of 74 1 2 inches long. Many snakes are misidentified and killed because people think that they are venomous. The water moccasin will emit scents towards of predators and it will try and slip away unnoticed to the closest water body it can find. It can be difficult to distinguish cottonmouths from the many nonvenomous water snakes of the region without getting dangerously close to the unknown snake.

Like every other individual of this species t. These vipers are deadly and received their name because of the way they present themselves when threatened. There are many harmless watersnakes genus nerodia that are frequently confused with venomous water moccasins a k a. The cottonmouth will hold itself erect opening its mouth.

The water moccasin snake characteristics water moccasins or cottonmouth snakes are found near bodies of water in the southern part of the united states.