Cottonmouth (water moccasin) on Pensacola Beach -- How to identify this venomous snake in the field

Music by Fish, Jam, Laugh.
One way to identify a cottonmouth snake is to look directly into its eyes and determine whether the pupil is “vertical and cat-like”, or round like a marble…
Oh ok...well that’s fine and dandy, but I have no interest in getting so close to a potentially venomous snake while I’m so far away from medical attention.
So how can you tell if a snake is a cottonmouth without getting in its face? Let’s look at a few classic cottonmouth features on this Pensacola Beach cottonmouth that we stumbled upon one day.
1. The first thing we can look at here is the triangular shape of its head. This head shape allows plenty of room in those jowls to accommodate the venom sacs.
2. The second thing that we will look at here is actually a behavioral trait called “gaping”. When threatened, cottonmouths open their jaws all the way up exposing a white interior.
3. Another couple of things to notice here are the body shape and coloration. Their bodies are very thick and heavy in contrast to their very thin tails. Coloration ranges from lots of banding when they’re younger to almost no pattern in older specimens. This one in particular is about mid-way between those 2 extremes.
4. And here’s another distinctive feature…check out this dark band that extends back from the eye with a thin, lighter colored border.
5. Now let’s look at one more behavioral trait here…look at how much this snake shakes its tail. Even though it doesn’t have any rattles, it can still get your attention not only visually, but also by causing a rustling sound on the ground.
So there ya go…a few little clues that you’re looking at a cottonmouth without having to get eye to eye with it.
#cottonmouth #watermoccasin #pensacolabeach