water mocassin?

while blithely tromping through the underbrush (in sandals, no less), I narrowly missed stepping on this critter. Wasn't about to poke him for a better shot.
Anyway, two fishermen came by and swore it was a water mocassin. We are not supposed to have venomous snakes in these parts, but really, how can they be sure? It might just be a water snake, but I didn't want to test it. And I noticed the fishermen were plenty careful about where they walked - and they found another one a few yards away.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Dosent look like a cottonmouth to me.. I deal with a lot of snakes and find that when ever someone sees a snake with dark color in the water they think its a cotton hehe. But it could be I cant tell by the head its blocked. What state do you live in?

eastern shore of maryland. Lots of water here. But all the nature guides state emphatically that we have no venomous snakes. It's probably a common water snake, taking the sun after yesterday's torrential rain. But I don't want to put it to the test.

Nancy

Hi Nwyman,

Excellent photo! Here lately, it seems that I can't go for a walk without stepping on a snake. Boy, it really gives one a jump start, huh?!! Just happened to have a camera the last time. I was climbing/falling down a river bank and saw this one at the bottom. He was most likely petrified that some klutz was about to fall on him!

MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script