Cottonmouths taste…
…horrible.
Nasty.
foul.
Like a cross between rancid mud and truck tires.
Rattlesnakes and copperheads, however, are pretty
good. Sauteed with ground sasafrass leaves.
Little wild garlic.
In the Trinity and Rio Grande rivers of
Texas, those alligator gar get over 200 lbs. Awfully big logs.
I just saw 3 this evening…
Does anyone work where I work? If so, don’t read this…I left work today and put my boat in Cedar Creek (Congaree Natl Park) where I saw 3 snakes (got pics for proof) only one was a cottonmouth. A very small one, on some very small branches of a downed tree, out in the middle of the creek. One, I am not sure what it was, it was green on top and almost “rosy” underneath. The other was a beautiful banded water snake. Additionally, the creek is flooded (Alberto) and the Alligator Gar were top feeding like crazy, never seen anything like it. I love my kayak, I mean working all day.
I agree, I handle snakes during
church services… wait, I meant to say during State Park canoe trips almost every Sunday during the summer. I know for a fact, that there are no venomous water snakes in my area. The vast majority of them are Brown Water snakes, Banded Northers, and Red Bellied water snakes with the (very) rare Queen Snake thrown in. Usually before I have a chance to go catch it to give my "snake talk’ one of the men who is trying to be Mr. Macho announces to the group that the snake in question is a water moccasin or a cottonmouth. Rather than argue with him I generally paddle over to them and catch them, normally getting bitten if they are really in a bad mood.
Its funny to watch their faces when they realize that they are wrong.
A little OT…
…but I found a rattlesnake under my surf ski last weekend. Had just landed at Washoe Lake and went up to the car to dry off. Came back to load the boat, and said snake was shading him/herself under my boat. Gotta watch out where you reach!
Kyle
Are you sure they were alligator gar.
Unfortunately, the alligator gar is in a decline and one doesn’t often see the bigger ones, especially top water feeding. Mostly, the ones seen rolling on the top of the water are longnose gar. There are several species of gar, longnose, shortnose, spotted, and alligator are the ones common to the US. The alligator gar is distinguished from the rest by its blunt head that looks much like that of its namesake, the alligator. Longnose gar have a sharp, long toothy snout and are most common in Southern waters. BTW, I noticed that Tennessee’s wildlife department’s website doesn’t list the alligator gar as being one of the fish in the state, though there are sure to be some in the Congaree. Been there once, but didn’t paddle.
it is possible they are not Alligator
as easy as it is to mis-identify a snake out of the water…and since I see gar a lot, probably another variety.
Difficult to tell. Couldn’t see the top
of its head to determine if it had the viper wide trianglular head with the pit in it. Basically, it looks like a dark snake with a pattern on its back in a tree at night.
another link to snake info…
– Last Updated: Jun-21-06 12:50 AM EST –
http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/snakebite.html
anyone care to rate it?
last month i put in on knotts island sc) to head toward false cape state park (va). while putting in a woman at the launch asked me if i was paddling alone. i said yes. she told me to watch out for water moccasins as she had seen her first one of the season just that week. (how she connected paddling alone to snakes, i've no clue.)
ok, paddling is rather new to me. add to that i am a born and bred yankee (minnesota), and this southern environment is new to me. was that stamped on my forehead so as to make her give me a crash course in venomous snakes?
she went on to tell me that a) the water moc would have its head straight up and most of its body above water, vs. any other snake just poking its head up, and b) the water moc would not run from me, vs. other snakes ducking for cover.
sure 'nuff, within half an hour i encountered a water moc--about 15 feet away at 4:00; saw it as i was glancing around to get an overview of the environmental configuration while reaching into my pfd for the google earth image. i immediately decided that i didn't need to know where i was just yet and paddled on.
as i paddled away i it get the feeling it was at least comtemplating following me; but after reading this thread it seems more likely it ws just doing the path of least resistance thing.
my usual companion--who was not with me that trip--gave me the link above when i told him the story.
That’s pretty good
I used to have pet Black snakes (5 to 6 feet long)They would love to crawl up with you when your napping because of the warmth. You never can “tame” a snake, but as long as they have food in their belly, they are pretty easy going.
The article is a good reference.
Regardless of what kind of snake bite, get it treated.
Kinda funny to me hearing about snake bites. The Black Snakes are part of the Viper Family. They would hang around muy neck, crawl through my shirt, and just be scary and never bite me - - while I discussed these creatures with Boy Scouts, and the occasional Girl Scout troop.
Couldn’t be …
a water moccasin it wasn’t jumping into your boat, biting your boat or brandishing a switchblade. I’ve heard so many stories about aggressive water moccasins and have never seen it myself after paddling the waters of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina for years, I just don’t believe the hype.
I wonder how many of those guys who noodle for catfish get bit. If somebody was going to get bit by a water moccasin it seems like it’d be those guys sticking their arms in stumps and under banks.
Anyway, it really is too hard to tell from the picture what this, but it could be a Moccasin.
Black snakes,
and I use that name generically, are absolutely NOT a member of the Viperidae. Most of the serpent species referred to as ‘black snakes’ are classified within Colubridae.
Holmes
Shooting the snakes…
Used to paddle a lot in the Birmingham, AL area. A friend of mine in high school actually did shoot what he said was a cottonmouth that dropped off a low branch into the bottom of his aluminum canoe. Shot it with a .410 if memory serves me well.
The cottonmouths were somewhat prolific in the Birmingham area. I’d agree with what others have said - they’re much more aggressive and mean on land than they seem to be in the water. Fortunately we live just a bit too far north for them now - don’t see many at all around here (Chattanooga, TN).
Off Topic…
When I read Krousman’s comment:
“I think someone should make a movie about being miles from shore and having a snake in your cockpit! I’d go see it.”
It reminded me of a movie about snakes that is coming out soon. I still can’t believe Samuel L Jackson is staring in this movie… does he need money that bad?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/
Tinkerbell is right…
I’ve been fishing in a motorboat, and had small watersnakes approach our boat a couple of times when we were drifting around. They are curious little snakes, but a swish of a fishing pole or a paddle will send them scurrying. Never had a cottonmouth approach a boat, though, I have had a near miss hiking over a log jam along a remote river.
I would agree that many people mistakenly identify snakes, and that this leads to an uneccessary level of fear over them.
Cotton Mouth Bite
last for a few days, winter last for 6 months.
No thank you
Brian
SoFlo
So you have Pythons also
Im no Herpotologist but that might be your friendly neighborhood Python.
Brian
SoFlo
gave a rattlesnake a ride…
I was paddling about 200 yards offshore on a local reservoir a few weeks ago when I came upon a small (10-12") rattlesnake. It looked a bit lost, so I picked it up on the end of my paddle, placed it on the bow of my kayak and gave it a ride back to shore. We kept an eye on each other the whole way!
Paddleinclay Photo
Thats there is a picture of a Python.
Im no herpotologist but would bet a buck on it.
Brian