A friend of mine was in India one year and ask the same question, " What kind of snake is that?" His guide did not bat a eye when he said, " A biting one!"
How big was it and were those the only colors? Makes a BIG difference sometimes.
Rick

im pretty sure it was only those colors...couldnt see too well in the water though..i say it was about 1 and 1/2' to 2' long

There ore only 4 poisonous snakes in the USA. Water moccasin (cotton mouth) which is the most common in the south. 95% of them look almost black with a band across their eye like a raccoon. The younger ones can vary from brown to black with bands across their body. They have a very short and fat body. There are a couple of water snakes that people get confused with the water moccasin all of the time. They are harmless but they are mean as hell and they have a very distinct odor and are alot longer than most moccasins.

The rattle snake is going to be almost nonexistant in swamps.

You might run into a copperhead but they are no where near as poisonous as the other two and is about like a bad bee sting.

The corral snake you will probably never see and don' t have to wory about one biting you cause they do not have fangs like the other three. I have never seen one in the wild and I have looked for them.

If you see a moccasin and are worried about being bit the best thing to do is just leave it alone.

Here is a link to snakes found in Arkansas you might find useful.
http://community.webshots.com/album/14412881PHgKixOgZd

im not going to donfront a snake, but when im walk, sometimes i dont catch everyone with my eye. Im in alot of swamps and want protection.
bigbulls: i really aprciate the info you have provided with me. Thanks

Anyone else? Will rubber boots protect me? Where do snakes usually strike at?

Thanks alot for the info guys

Yes rubber boots will protect you. My brother, when we were kids, used to go afound looking for snakes and found a lot of cotton mouths. Anyway, he stepped on a large cotton mouth lying in a patch of tall grass and it bit him about two inches below the top of his rubber boot. Didn' t even leave fang marks on it. A snake that size just doesn' t have the power to get it' s fangs into the boot. In about ten years of actually going out to find these snakes this is the only incident that we had where we were almost bitten.


The midland water snake and the water moccasin look very similar. You will see many more water snakes than moccasins. If you do encounter a moccasin just walk around it. They are territorial but almost never attack a human unless provoked. They will stand their ground and fight rather than run from you if you do mess with them though.