Holy crap!

And there I was complaining about the several I see.

You must have a different CM than further south.....different demeanor between the Eastern CM & the Florida CM.

Exactly opposite here......the aggressors are the CMs.

Rarely see them on dry land, but then again....there's more wetlands and swamps down here than Worth County.

Lol, don’t need ANY. Saw enough to last me a lifetime. When we first started trapping in Arkansas, my wife picked up a book on snakes native to the state. It said that cottonmouths could grow up to 4’ in length. Never learned how to post pics, but I have one of the wife holding one up that is every bit of 5 foot.

I was never in Arkansas in the summer, but all the farmers I trapped for told us about how aggressive they got in the summer.

You know, below zero all winter really isn't that bad. I would lose my mind with that many snakes.

I've fished few places you better get out before dark, but it was still like running the gauntlet trying to walk out!

I've held one someone killed in Southern Indiana.

I've heard in extreme se KS near Baxter springs there are a few. I wouldn't know

Pretty much have the place to myself ha,ha... Those snake handling preachers won't touch those woods!

..Look up Murphy's pond, Ky....One of the heaviest concentrations of cottonmouths in the country....I take people to the location of that video first to prepare them for Murphy's pond, or they're gonna lose it & freak, Lol.

Nah, you wouldn't lose your mind, it builds character.
..Kinda like running from them bears up North!

Does that mean we'll no longer be expecting you?

Here's the video



Keith

Even the snakes in the YouTube video aren’t aggressive. Most all I encounter just open their mouths and show you their namesake. Only had one strike my boot and that’s because I accidentally stepped on it. As soon as it struck it got the heck out of Dodge. I think most Cottonmouths people think are aggressive are just trying to get away and the easiest path is where the person is.
In a boat Cottonmouths swim by. Water snakes want in the boat. We’ve fished in the bank of the river and cottonmouths swim right beside us and never act aggressive.

Come on down closer to the Florida line and I'll show you how these other cottonmouths act.

When my dad was in the Navy he fished a bunch of different places in the Carolinas. He said if you were in a boat they might come over to investigate. But not really aggressive.

He said a couple times they got their fishing boat stuck on things. He said if you jumped out of the boat they would only then get angry and aggressive. Once you got back in the boat they would go off on their way and not bother you. He said he learned real quick how to play Jesus and run on water to get back into the boat.

Savell, they’re just hot and thirsty. Get rid of the AC and beer and they’ll stay where they belong.

Got a cottonmouth story.

A guy and his wife were wading in the James River above me 10 miles or so. Guy got out knee deep in the river and got bit twice by a cottonmouth.
They never figured out if he had been bit by one snake or two. Anyway, guy hobbles out of the water and the wife helps him in the car and they go home. He was on parole and pharmaceuticly enhanced at the time so didn't want to go to the emergency room. Also, they didn't have insurance. So,he went and took a nap and didn't wake up.




Below is out of the Missouri Conservationist:

Cottonmouths live in southern Missouri

As the weather warms up, many snakes will be moving about, and in southern Missouri, cottonmouths can be found along streams, ponds and lakes. Cottonmouth bites are rare in Missouri, but a Nixa man died in 2015 after having been bitten twice by a suspected cottonmouth while wading in the James River.

A toxicology report later determined the man also had a potentially lethal level of the narcotic Oxycodone in his blood at the time of his death.

The Missouri Department of Conservation notes that harmless and nonvenomous water snakes are often mistaken for venomous cottonmouths.

Our first quail hunt this year (Nov) we had a dog tangle up with 2 Cottonmouths. He was bit 3 times. He was back hunting in January. It was a rough few days at the beginning, but he made it.
All I know is it hit hard. I drug him off the snakes and in less than a minute I was having to help him to the wagon. We met the managers wife halfway and she was going to transport him to the vet. In just a few minutes time I had to carry him from the wagon to the truck. The vet had to carry him from the truck to the office.
What’s even crazier is the Summer before he got bit on the head by a baby Cottonmouth that made it into his kennel and was just given some Benadryl. Apparently head bites are better for a dog than leg/body bites even though his head swole up twice its normal size. Since he has a thing for snakes he’s now designated a late season dog vs early season, lol!