Cottonmouth Water Moccasin
Cottonmouth Water Moccasin is a viper, and one of the most deadly that roam North America. Extremely dangerous to people and pets, they are aggressive and venomous.
The adult water moccasin can be anywhere from 20 inches to as much as 7 feet long.
When they swim a great deal of their body rests above the water, gliding across it.
Dark colored and thick bodied, they also have the unique vertical pupils, while most common water snakes have round pupils.
Cottonmouth Water Moccasin
Adult cotton mouth snakes are from 20 to 70 inches long and are relatively broad compared with other venomous snakes.
Unlike most snakes when they are frightened the cottonmouth will usually stand its ground and open its mouth displaying a completely white interior to warn predators to stay away.
That behavior is some times seen as aggressive, but if the snakes are left alone they will usually leave.
Cotton mouth is semi-aquatic, which means that most of their lives are spent near permanent water sources, and they swim a great deal of the time.
Cotton mouth will eat a wide variety of foods, which includes mammals, lizards, birds, turtles, alligators and sometimes even other snakes.
The victim is bitten and the venom does its job nearly instantly. Should it not kill the victim, the snake will track it and using the pits on the side of its nose, which function like heat sensors, it will track the prey until it finds it.
Cottonmouth Adult
Cotton mouth gives live birth, which isn’t to say they do not have eggs. The eggs are carried inside their bodies and then laid later on.
From 6-12 eggs, leathery feeling will be laid. Usually only one of three survives to adulthood.
Find out more about the Cottonmouth Water Moccasin over at Wikipedia »
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Can water moccasins live on land and water? I have heard that they only live in water, is that true?
I don’t think I’ve seen so much misinformation or outright falsehoods on the Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) in one article!
(1) “Cottonmouth Water Moccasin is a viper, and one of the most deadly that roam North America.” WRONG! The Cottonmouth is a “Pit” Viper (New World), NOT a true (Old World) Viper, and…
(2) It isn’t generally considered “deadly” at all, much less “one of THE most deadly!” I’ve yet to confirm a death attributed to this snake and I’ve studied them for fifty years and taught snakebite treatment for 35.
(3) “The adult water moccasin can be anywhere from 20 inches to as much as 7 feet long.” WRONG AGAIN! Cottonmouths are about 5-6 inches at borth and adults average about 3-4 ft. (36″-48″). The largest of the thousands I’ve captured or seen in my life was only 5’4″ (64 inches), although I believe the established record is about 74 inches (6’2″), not 7 ft.
(4) “They also have the unique vertical pupils, while most common water snakes have round pupils.” “Most?” ALL non-venomous water snake species have round pupils!
(5) “Cotton mouth gives live birth, which isn’t to say they do not have eggs. The eggs are carried inside their bodies and then laid later on. From 6-12 eggs, leathery feeling will be laid.” WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Cottonmouths are “Viviporous,” meaning they give LIVE BIRTH! They DO NOT “have eggs,” and they DO NOT “carry the (eggs) inside their bodies and (lay) them later on!” They bear LIVE young like all other pit vipers!
(6) “Usually only one of three survives to adulthood.” Wrong. The fact is only approximately one out of one-hundred (1%) of all juvenile snakes reaches adulthood, NOT the stated “one of three” (33%).
My God, if you’re going to put information on the net, at least make sure it is correct! Someone needs to go back to biology class!!!
JB
I know this is kind of silly but you seem to know a lot about water moccasins! My friend and I are in a heated debate because he told me that in his home town in Mississippi he has seen water moccasins that are as big as a telephone pole! I however do not believe this as the only snakes I know to be this big are pythons and anacondas! I started searching on line but could only find the lenght of adult water moccasins and not the weight. Could you tell me how big a water moccasin gets weight wise and not lenght wise?
depends on what it just ate…alligators?
hi james… thank you for the info on cottonmouths. i was doing some yard work when i spotted something in my yard that wasn’t there before. it looked like a hose w a white flower on the end. i went in the house and studied it from inside. the pic on the internet told me it was a cottonmouth. mine was very bumpy looking and i called animal control and she said it wasn’t pregnate-it may have just eaten something. she also ans my ques that i had time to drive myself to hosp if i was bitten. is this all true?
a few days later i spotted him in my neighbors yard. i think it was him-same size, same color- minus the bumps. he didn’t open his mouth so i couldn’t tell. if he was pregnate and not just digesting food and it had babies would it leave babies here or try to move them where no people are. or where water is. or don’t they care.
i live in a residential mobile home park. is he a permanent fixture now? do i have baby nippers to worry about too? are they poisonous? i cannot find any ans to my ques on internet. animal control said you can’t tell if a snake is pregnate. so if mine ate something it was the size of a squirrel which my yard has plenty of. because all the old people here (not me of course) feed them!
i’ve been in FL 30+ yrs and never saw a snake til now – twice in less than a week. i can deal w snow better than this. thanks for listening. any info you could throw my way would be greatly appreciated.
sylvia smith, winter springs, fl
Good info. Thank you for this. I will only point out that, as far as deaths are concerned, the only confirmed one I know of happened to my mother’s best friend in college when tubing in a river in NC. She slipped through her tube into a nest of babies and was bit numerous times. It wasn’t one snake or one bite that caused her death, though.
How long can a cottonmouth moccasin stay alive under the water or how often do they have to come up for air?
Thanks!
nice good info
i have a young cottonmouth and yeah there are many mistakes in this article….but bottom line is they aren’t nearly as bad as people make them out to be….they will never attack you….they will not kill you with one bite although in young or old people you can die if not treated….and honestly compared to some rattlers here in texas….they never bother humans unless a human bothers them….
Not true at all. My little brother was just bitten by a water moccasin, but he did not provoke it. He is deathly afraid of snakes, no way he would do anything to piss it off. You have no clue what you are talking about.
My experience with cotton mouths has been different. I have seen them act aggressively and in pairs to actively defend their territory. I have also seen copperheads turn and come toward someone who initiated aggressive behavior on them at speed with their mouths wide open for over 25yds distance. Like all creatures they will fight when attacked or cornered. Most try to escape, some attack.
My kids were playing in our creek. My son turned a submerged rock over and a snake popped out. I don’t really know what kind it was I was hoping someone could enlighten me. We have copperheads and water snakes here so it is hard to tell the difference in the two. This snake was fully submerged in the water under the rock, it had diamond shapes on its back and a diamond shaped head. It was about 15 inches long.
Most likely a diamondback water snake…google that and compare with pictures….I also have a 4 month old and will post picks when I get home
Sorry to bust some bubbles but I just shot and killed a mocosin this morning at compass lake florida. Large, fat and angry I had not qualms about shooting the snake. It was at a cabin we use with some pets and small children. No way that I let this animal live to have a chance to come back and bite a child or dog. Call me mean, call me brutal, call me stupid but also call me safe.
Call you WONDERFUL and I am glad you did…
I just killed a cottonmouth (about 24 inches) we have numerous kids in the neighborhood that ride their bikes down by the creek. I’m an animal lover and don’t kill snakes just because they are snakes, but safety first. I know the difference between a cottonmouth and a water snake and I verified it after it was dead. cottonmouth no doubt.
They are not agressive. Whit Gibbons of Georgia Univerity did plenty of studies to show that these guys don’t want any trouble. I live around thousands of them in a North Carolina marsh and I get tired of hearing the Cottonmouth described as an aggressive killer. The only ones I’ve ever seen were swimming or slithering away from me.