Back off from this guy!

[pgrimes]

I recently returned from a week long trip to southern Florida. I ran into this guy in the everglades. It's a young water moccasin (cottonmoutn), probably about 1-2 years old. It was probably a little over 2 ft. long. I have a lot of experience with snakes, I've kept many as pets when I was younger (I have none now). I was able to get about 5 ft. away from this snake for the picture.

This is one of the 4 types of venomous snakes in the US (rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads and coral snakes) and, if you see one, stay back! It is quite capable of killing a person where they stand, although most bites are not fatal. It can be distinguished from a harmless water snake which lives in the same area by it's arrow shaped head and the black, raccoon-like strip that covers its eye.

I was quite happy with this picture because when I got back home, I searched the internet for water moccasin pictures and didn't really come across any that captured the animal any better than the one here.

Comments are welcome. :)

http://www.paulbgrimes.com/images/for_post/water_moccasin.jpg

[cfcRebel]

Nice capture pgrimes!
I saw a colorful snake yesterday, about 1.5ft long. I don't know what type but now that u mentioned coral snake is venomous, i get goosebumps cuz I almost stepped on it accidentally. At one point my right foot was about a foot away from it. It crawled away too fast. Too bad I didn't get a shot of it.

[pgrimes]

Nice capture pgrimes!
I saw a colorful snake yesterday, about 1.5ft long. I don't know what type but now that u mentioned coral snake is venomous, i get goosebumps cuz I almost stepped on it accidentally. At one point my right foot was about a foot away from it. It crawled away too fast. Too bad I didn't get a shot of it. Thanks Rebel! :)

Here's a link (http://www.howe.k12.ok.us/~jimaskew/botzo/zosnake.htm)(scroll all the way down) that shows how to distinguish the venomous coral snake from the harmless king or milksnake... "Red on black is friend of Jack. Red on yellow will kill a fellow."

[cfcRebel]

Phewwww.....based on the pictures, i think mine was a Scarlet Kingsnake (or even milksnake). His stripes were as conspicuous as those two, and the pattern is consistent too. Thanks pgrimes! ;)

[insomnia]

Thanks Rebel! :)

Here's a link (http://www.howe.k12.ok.us/~jimaskew/botzo/zosnake.htm)(scroll all the way down) that shows how to distinguish the venomous coral snake from the harmless king or milksnake... "Red on black is friend of Jack. Red on yellow will kill a fellow."


I always heard "red on black, venom lack" :)

Cool picture, ya got alot closer than I ever would have :shock:

[queenbee288]

very cool picture. I grew up in Eastern Kentucky and we used to pull these fellas out of the closet.

Char

[pgrimes]

very cool picture. I grew up in Eastern Kentucky and we used to pull these fellas out of the closet.Wow... gotta watch out for those! We have rattlesnakes in the foothills around here and when I was a teenager, I caught and released a few. The rattlers don't hang out around Sacramento much though.

[GTogs]

Good capture!