Florida Cottonmouth

The florida cottonmouth is a close rela tive of the copperhead this snake is also known as the water moccasin.

Florida cottonmouth. Your snake could be an eastern cottonmouth agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus. Florida cottonmouth as the name suggests it is found in florida and georgia s southernmost regions. Cottonmouths are found throughout florida in wet areas including streams lakes marshes swamps retention ponds and roadside ditches although they can wander far from water. When first born the babies look nothing like the parents.

A florida man says his life flashed before his eyes after a venomous cottonmouth snake bit him on the foot leaving his leg in throbbing pain last week. Cheek stripe is not well defined snout tip lacks vertical markings. The extreme western panhandle of florida north and east through alabama to central georgia and virginia. Their territory stretches from texas to the eastern seaboard and from the florida keys to the middle of missouri.

Its head is spade shaped and noticeably larger and thicker than its neck. Cottonmouths also called water moccasins are native to the southeastern united states. Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti florida cottonmouth agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma western cottonmouth agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus eastern cottonmouth. The florida cottonmouth is a medium bodied snake.

Its color ranges from olive green to dark brown to jet black. A venomous snake the cottonmouth is often confused with non venomous northern water snakes. With extraordinary patterns on the head it can weigh more than 10 pounds and grow as long as 74 5 inches. They have a wavy banded pattern in bright orange and brown with a sulphur yellow tail tip.

As a child growing up beneath the tangles of spanish moss and palm trees that adorn the floridian peninsula the florida cottonmouth was the first snake i learned about as a child and much of that education was riddled with folkloric horror stories and mythological representations of what i now understand to be a highly efficient deeply rational and fundamentally conservative species beautifully adapted to scratching out a living in otherwise harsh and difficult environments. Your snake could be a florida cottonmouth agkistrodon piscivorus conanti. It s a semi aquatic viper that you might find around any body of fresh water in the southeastern united states.