Instructions
Know what a water moccasin looks like. Water Moccasins can grow between 3 to 6 feet in length. The head is big, flat, triangle-shaped and they have a dark line that runs through their elongated eye. They are not hatched from an egg, but are born live with litters of up to 20 babies born every two to three years. As babies, they are brightly patterned with a yellow tipped tail. Their colors change as they mature into a solid olive or brown color. When they are older, they can almost appear black. Their belly has dark and brownish/yellow blotches. The underside of the tail can range from a dark brown to black. If you scare it, its warning is to open its mouth wide. The interior of its mouth is white, thus the name, cottonmouth. Their venom is stored in the jowls in their neck and they have facial pits which allow them to sense heat to detect prey and predators.
Look for the cottonmouth where it lives. Their range is predominantly in the south eastern United States up to Virginia and the mid-west including Illinois, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma. Generally, they can be found in fresh water areas like swamps, ponds, reservoirs, rivers, flood plains or heavily vegetated wetlands. As they are great climbers, it is not uncommon to see them resting or hanging from the branch of a tree.
Identify a water moccasin by its diet. As it has the facial pits that sense heat, it is one of the rare snakes that eat both warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. They are also cannibalistic and will eat their own kind. The majority of their diet consists of fish and amphibians but they have been known to eat lizards, other snakes, mammals, turtles, baby alligators, birds, frogs, snails, mice, rats and bird's eggs.
Be aware of the cottonmouth's bite. They are non-aggressive and seldom bite unless provoked or stepped on. However, when they do bite you, it is important that you handle it correctly or death can occur within seconds, hours or days depending on how much venom was injected into your body and where in your body (for example, a bite in the leg will give you more time than a bite that goes into an artery). The most common place to be bitten by a water moccasin is in or under water - lakes, ponds, swamps, marshes or near the water. When you get bitten, the bite will burn and most of the time you will have two puncture wounds on your skin. Your skin may swell, discolor, blister, numb. You may feel nauseous and start vomiting. Your mouth may have a minty/metallic taste and possibly begin tingling, including your face and scalp. You may feel weak, dizzy, go into shock or have convulsions. You may experience complete renal shut down, including loss of control of your sphincter muscle. For this bite, it's important to practice good emergency care. Don't ever apply a tourniquet, try to suck out the venom or apply ice to the wound. Treat the victim for shock, wash the wound with soap and water and call 911.
How to Identify a Cotton Mouth or Water Moccasin Snake
Cottonmouths are often referred to as water moccasins. They are venomous, semi-aquatic reptiles with large, triangular heads. They get their name from the milky-white insides of their mouth. They are pit vipers, which means they have a pit on their head just between their eyes and nose, which is used for heat-seeking prey. The cottonmouth is found in the western plains, in the southeast and as far north as Virginia.