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Cotton Mouth

16K views 84 replies 45 participants last post by  Spoonie-whacker 
#1 ·
How many of you deal with these during summer months? Water work has become "let's go shoot the moccasins for an hour and, when we don't see any more, we'll train." I am using two ponds close to one another, I've shot nearly 15 in 3 weeks. Killed these two tonight.

Second, how many have had one of these bite your dog? I see all the rattle snake posts... What ab these suckers?

Reptile Rock python Scaled reptile Snake Rattlesnake
 
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#2 ·
Hate em. Damn I hate em. I don't see many training but there are a lot were we hunt gators. I use to see a bunch, but less and lees in the last ten years. Knock on wood. As far as dogs getting bit I know three people who have. One was in TX, one in FL, and one in LA. All three ended up fine but had major swelling and I mean nasty swelling. One had a pretty nasty infection from it as well. If I recall he had an indentation in his shoulder after he healed where bacteria had eaten and the vet had removed tissue. None died and all went on to hunt again. One of the people post here owned one of the dogs, maybe they will chime in.
 
#8 ·
Humm, forgot about that one. I guess I know four people.
 
#4 ·
Had one on my heels in early May, but he did not strike my snake proof boots. He was smart because we would have lite him up. all of these snakes scare the retard out of me regarding my dogs. Heat and snakes are a dogs two worst enemies. Then again i know a fella that inadvertently closed his lab in the car only to find him dead later on when he went looking for his missing dog. Mother nature can put a hurting on your dog, but man's complacence can do the same. Always think about your dog from car to house, etc.
 
#6 ·
Been dealing with them since early April, believe I have killed 9 to date at the multitude of ponds I have to use. They are fish ponds with smaller fish so it's a great place to find them. Needless to say haven't been back to the ponds since I started killing them.
 
#7 ·
My husband's GSP was bitten on the top of the front paw when he was five. It was horrible. Scotty had him at the vet's in less than an hour (we are 45 miles away) and they started treatment immediately but the swelling and necrosis was unbelievable. You could see the bones and tendons and all in his paw.
I think he was at the vet's for maybe nine days?
Thankfully he did recover but I hope none of our dogs have to go through that again.
 
#9 ·
Ok,,five people I know.....dang maybe more common than I thought.
 
#11 ·
A couple years ago, a friend of mine had her dog down south for training with a pro. The dog jumped in a pond right on top of a water moccasin which bit her hind leg. Saw a vet immediately down south and brought her back home to heal. The damage was so severe, tho, her leg at hip had to be amputated. Wasn't sure if she'd ever want to get into the water again ... but she did and just achieved her MH title.
 
#12 ·
Hey man, I am from right up the road in Nettleton. They're everywhere. Living in Vicksburg now but go to Nettleton every other weekend and there are tons of them in Vicksburg and Nettleton. I have shot about 10 since mid May. I shoot every snake I see, don't care if its a king snake...the only good snake is a dead one. And Mississippi heat makes them mad. They go after everything.
 
#13 ·
buddy's dog went into the water to make a retrieve and came out with a cottonmouth wrapped around its flank. at first the dog didnt notice it and was on his way back up land to deliver then it freaked out 10 yards from the bank we assume the snake hadnt bit till just then. rushed to the vet and stayed there a few days with meds to fight infection.
 
#14 ·
At my new place in Boston, Ga. I have a pond. We cleaned up all around the pond
with a bobcat and bushog. before the clean up we shot 4 snakes, now they are out
sunning on the banks, my neighbor has killed more than a dozen in the last month on his evening walk.
I think they breed like rabbits, chooot'em all.
 
#19 ·
View attachment 13482 Friendly neighborhood that Demopolis is :)
Glad someone actually posted a photo of a cotton mouth. Lots of water snakes seen but not near as many are actually cotton mouths. Cotton mouths are very territorial and will be aggressive within their territory (more so than most any other snake IMO). Had one of my Labs bit on the head just above the ear a number of years ago during a warm start to duck season in west TN. Head was swollen bad within a couple of hours as we transported the dog to the vet. Treated there for 3 days (I thought her left eye was going to pop out with so much swelling), then her head pretty quickly returned to normal with no residual issues or evidence of having been bit.
 
#21 ·
Look at the bright side, a snake bite is a lot better than a gator bite.
 
#22 ·
How many of you deal with these during summer months? Water work has become "let's go shoot the moccasins for an hour and, when we don't see any more, we'll train." I am using two ponds close to one another, I've shot nearly 15 in 3 weeks. Killed these two tonight.

Second, how many have had one of these bite your dog? I see all the rattle snake posts... What ab these suckers?

View attachment 13479
Im right down the road in Amory and i have already had two run-in's with Snakes this year. One struck at my pup and missed "thank god". The other snake was in the water with my pup
 
#23 ·
A majority of what folks think are cottonmouths are not. Probably the most mis-identified snake around here. People assume that if it's near water then that's what it must be. I've only had two small ones around here lately. Had one of my dogs get bit about 3 years ago, 3 strikes on her throat and one on the nose. She has a big scar on her throat and survived just fine.
 
#24 ·
A majority of what folks think are cottonmouths are not. Probably the most mis-identified snake around here.
I stick to my simple taxonomy of snakes:
If it rattles, it is a rattlesnake;
If it is in the water, it is a water moccasin;
If it is on land, it is a copperhead.

We were training this spring and heard a noise in the tree above the line and saw a snake crawling around. It didn't fit easily into the taxonomy, so since I was born in Okinawa, we just assumed it was a Habu preparing to drop down and kill us :)
 
#25 ·
Believe me I am not a snake fan, but "shoot 'em all" is not exactly an appropriate response. Brown water snakes catch hell because they resemble moccasins. Lots of good snakes out there folks that eat rats and mice and all sorts or other undesirables. I try to identify snakes before I dispatch them and if they are in an area away from my house or dogs I leave them alone. An anvil shaped head is a pretty good indicator of venomous snakes. Came through my living room last week and saw something slip behind the bookcase... a yellow rat snake, came in through the dog door on the screen porch and then into the living room. Now, snakes in the house...that really creeps me out, but once I saw what kind it was I removed it and took it well away and let it go.
 
#28 ·
Believe me I am not a snake fan, but "shoot 'em all" is not exactly an appropriate response.
I don't shoot 'em all. Sometimes I have encountered one of these killers without a shooting thingy (Popper loads do work well at close range though) or other means to defend myself. In those cases, I strip down to my chinchilla thong and run the other way, screaming like a little girl. :)
 
#29 ·
Came through my living room last week and saw something slip behind the bookcase... a yellow rat snake, came in through the dog door on the screen porch and then into the living room. Now, snakes in the house...that really creeps me out, but once I saw what kind it was I removed it and took it well away and let it go.[/QUOTE]


I would have been trying to explain to the insurance company how my whole house mysteriously burnt to the ground. “no sir it has nothing to do with this empty gas can and this box of matches”
 
#30 ·
I have never encountered a cotton mouth in this area. Knock on wood. Copperheads and rattlers but not while training. Some have told me that there are not any cotton mouths west of the Trinity River. I don't know whether to believe this or not.
 
#41 ·
Man, didn't you ever read or see Lonesome Dove? Pretty sure that scene where the snakes swarmed all over that kid and killed him was west of the Trinity!
 
#36 · (Edited)
Fact: Alabama has more snakes per square mile than any other place on earth. So yes, I deal with snakes almost DAILY. Most of the ones I see are water snakes but me and my sons have shot a few cottonmouths this year. And yes I do know what a cottonmouth is.

FYI
Last night me and my 17 y.o. son were feeding the dogs and there was a 3' rat snake in the barn. Spooked me when I first saw him but we didn't kill him.

L. Spann
 
#37 ·
One of the ways to quickly tell if it's a cottonmouth or a water snake if it is swimming is how their body is in the water. A water snake swims with more of its body underwater with it's head out of the water and a cottonmouth is more buoyant and swims with more of it's body on top of the water. I realize most people aren't going to wait to see but if you're in a boat or have time this is usually a good indication. PS I'm not a snake lover!
 
#39 ·
One of the ways to quickly tell if it's a cottonmouth or a water snake if it is swimming is how their body is in the water. A water snake swims with more of its body underwater with it's head out of the water and a cottonmouth is more buoyant and swims with more of it's body on top of the water. I realize most people aren't going to wait to see but if you're in a boat or have time this is usually a good indication. PS I'm not a snake lover!
Have to disagree, I've caught both WM's and water snakes and they can swim however they want to. Easy identifier for them is they have a black band that extends thru the eye whereas the rgular harmless water snakes do not. This can be seen from a decent distance too.
 
#38 ·
Fwiw, this is a water snake, perhaps trying to pose as a "triangle shaped" headed venomous snake:



And these are some little cottonmouths showing their signature flattop, like the old hair cuts with straight sides and flat top meeting at acute angles:



(Another "signature" that one displays is that they frequently, though not always, swim or float with much of their bodies out of the water.)





(Those last two wee ones also show the yellow tail tips they sport as babies.)
 
#56 ·
Fwiw, this is a water snake, perhaps trying to pose as a "triangle shaped" headed venomous snake:



And these are some little cottonmouths showing their signature flattop, like the old hair cuts with straight sides and flat top meeting at acute angles:



(Another "signature" that one displays is that they frequently, though not always, swim or float with much of their bodies out of the water.)





(Those last two wee ones also show the yellow tail tips they sport as babies.)[/QUOTe

OMG !!! I am not afraid of snakes but do you get these alot??? How can you safely train the dog?? Making me think twice about the south. Are they out in the winter when it is cooler???
 
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