Grab the Wrong Bow !
03-27-2006, 09:25 AM
#5
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 15,296
RE: Grab the Wrong Bow !
Grow up in snake country, you learn quick to watch where you step and what you pick up!
Is that a velvet tail (think ya'll call them cane breaks)? Looks like a common water snake, except for the dark tail--hard to tell from the picture. Mr. No Shoulders doesn't bother me as long as I see him before I dang-near step on him. Had a big copperhead ('bout 3 1/2feet long and almost as big around as my arm--huge for a copperhead) slither (literally) between my feet a few years ago when I was bowfishing from the bank of a run-off from the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Snake never paid me any attention, but I almost ruined a good pair of drawers. Shot at it two or three times, point blank, with my fishing arrow. Was so shaken I couldn't hit it, finally just beat it to death with the arrow.
Normally I'll let 'em go if they are in an unpopulated area, but that one got to me. Used to catch snakes when I was younger and dumber, but haven't caught anything but rat snakes and king snakes in several years.
Chad
Is that a velvet tail (think ya'll call them cane breaks)? Looks like a common water snake, except for the dark tail--hard to tell from the picture. Mr. No Shoulders doesn't bother me as long as I see him before I dang-near step on him. Had a big copperhead ('bout 3 1/2feet long and almost as big around as my arm--huge for a copperhead) slither (literally) between my feet a few years ago when I was bowfishing from the bank of a run-off from the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Snake never paid me any attention, but I almost ruined a good pair of drawers. Shot at it two or three times, point blank, with my fishing arrow. Was so shaken I couldn't hit it, finally just beat it to death with the arrow.
Normally I'll let 'em go if they are in an unpopulated area, but that one got to me. Used to catch snakes when I was younger and dumber, but haven't caught anything but rat snakes and king snakes in several years.
Chad
03-27-2006, 03:29 PM
#8
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 15,296
RE: Grab the Wrong Bow !
We've got cotton mouths--lots of them. I grew up withthem, and on any givenwarm day I believe I could find several if I wanted. I've seen them as big as some men's leg, but it's rare for one to get over 4' long.
Again, it's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks to have a yellow belly. Unless I opened it's mouth and saw fangs, I'd identify it as a type of water snake. My cousin married into a family that dealt in snakes for a living, and her husband--who grew up catching and handling snakes--couldn't tell the difference between them from the back--the yellow belly, and size (that one is much more slender than the average cottonmouth, especially one that long), is a giveaway.Some of the watersnakes even have thecotton white mouth.At least one type water snake (one that has a yellow belly--forget the propername) has a lot in common with the water moccasin--bothare VERY aggressive, especially during mating season; both stink to high heaven when irratated; and both will bite without warning. The water snake is just non-venomous. I've killed water snakes that were over 5' long--scare you just as much as a cotton mouth if you almost step on it before you see it.
We've also got copperheads, several different rattlesnakes, hog-nose, garters, racers, vine, grass, rat, king, etc. snakes. Like I said, I used to catch them, and it pays to know a little bit about them when you do that. Wanted to be a herpetologist when I grew up--just never grew up I guess.
Chad
Again, it's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks to have a yellow belly. Unless I opened it's mouth and saw fangs, I'd identify it as a type of water snake. My cousin married into a family that dealt in snakes for a living, and her husband--who grew up catching and handling snakes--couldn't tell the difference between them from the back--the yellow belly, and size (that one is much more slender than the average cottonmouth, especially one that long), is a giveaway.Some of the watersnakes even have thecotton white mouth.At least one type water snake (one that has a yellow belly--forget the propername) has a lot in common with the water moccasin--bothare VERY aggressive, especially during mating season; both stink to high heaven when irratated; and both will bite without warning. The water snake is just non-venomous. I've killed water snakes that were over 5' long--scare you just as much as a cotton mouth if you almost step on it before you see it.
We've also got copperheads, several different rattlesnakes, hog-nose, garters, racers, vine, grass, rat, king, etc. snakes. Like I said, I used to catch them, and it pays to know a little bit about them when you do that. Wanted to be a herpetologist when I grew up--just never grew up I guess.
Chad
03-27-2006, 03:38 PM
#9
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hopkinsville, Ky USA
Posts: 811
RE: Grab the Wrong Bow !
Chad, that looks like a cottonmouth to me! I used to catch snakes when I was a kid too, but any venomous one I'd kill. I don't catch em anymore, but any venomous ones still get their head smushed or cut off.
03-27-2006, 04:42 PM
#10
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location:
Posts: 2,964
RE: Grab the Wrong Bow !
I have this one in the freezer and it is a cotton mouth with very long fangs , will be mounting it for the Miami Museum of Science as you said Cotton Mouth over 4 feet are rare.
The water down here is very heavy with yellow tanning that might be why is yellowish, it is not a florida water snake, they don't get that thick down here.
I certainly would like to get some copperhead skins for dressing a bow,there are none down here.
The water down here is very heavy with yellow tanning that might be why is yellowish, it is not a florida water snake, they don't get that thick down here.
I certainly would like to get some copperhead skins for dressing a bow,there are none down here.