water moccasin stories

[hookingem]

lets hear about your encounters with these pesky snakes.

[fourbizz]

Never seen one.

And they all lived happily ever after, the end ;D

[Red]

I see them often in the summer, never any real big ones except one day last year.  I go to this little spot where I can drag my boat a short distance from the main lake onto one of the golf course tanks.  This one time I step out of my boat into the water and I see this freakin anaconda sized WM coming my way!!!  I swear it was 7' long and 3 inches thick!  I got back in the boat with a quickness and got the rock outta there!!  Haven't been back yet!!  That thing was scary, and I don't normally mind snakes.

Cliff

[hookingem]

they are the scariest snakes if my dad and i see one we totally relocate even if were sticking nice fish in the spot. that one you saw sounds pretty terifying.

I see them often in the summer, never any real big ones except one day last year. I go to this little spot where I can drag my boat a short distance from the main lake onto one of the golf course tanks. This one time I step out of my boat into the water and I see this freakin anaconda sized WM coming my way!!! I swear it was 7' long and 3 inches thick! I got back in the boat with a quickness and got the rock outta there!! Haven't been back yet!! That thing was scary, and I don't normally mind snakes.

Cliff

[spraycrew]

I was on a cattle drive with my good friend Sean an Irish boy, and as we were crossing the Rio Grande he was attacked and killed by water moccasins. One even bit him in the face.......

I named my boy Augustus if that gives you any idea of how much i like that movie!

[grimlin]

They were very common when i lived in TX as well. They always seemed to be very aggressive.

[Bryce C]

Aside from chasing bass one of my other hobbies is reptiles....so if I'm not on the water I'm in the woods looking for snakes and lizards. Cotton mouths just don't exist most of Indiana anymore, they are a state endangered species. Though most outdoorsmen have a horror story of a coming across a water moccasin/cottonmouth, lol. I can't tell you how many fisherman in my area kill snakes when they find them out of fear that it is a water moccasin. There are tons of species of water snake in the U.S. that mimic this species for protection from predators...so know that not every banded serpent you see on the water is definitely a water moccasin. The dead give away is the head shape.....cottonmouths are a pit viper and have a very muscular and triangular shaped head. Of course another obvious sign of this species is if you stumble across one and it gapes at you, which is their defense mechanism.

If you don't know for sure what species of snake you have run across the best course of action is to simply steer clear, but please please please do not be one of those guys that thinks he has to kill this deadly snake before it hurts some innocent person. They would rather get away from you than be forced to defend themselves and in some areas killing these snakes can bring a high penalty.

Happy fishing!

[SirSnookalot]

I don't trust their aggressive nature and we have more than our share in Florida. I do not freshwater fish at night! A small baby is as poisonous as a full grown adult and dangerous after death due to the head reflex action.

[b.Lee]

Only encountered them once as a kid growing up on the East Coast, camping came right up to our canoe. Scared the crap out of me. I kind of pushed it another direction with the oar.

[iceintheveins]

Thankfully we don't have them hear in Colorado, they can be a lot more aggressive than Rattlesnakes, though their venom is far less potent. A bite can still easily cause you to lose a limb from horrific tissue damage though, and you will have terrible pain and bleeding disorders. We have a small species of Rattlesnake around here called the Midget Faded Rattlesnake, and they posess venom 10 times as toxic as an Indian Cobra. Fortunately they aren't aggressive and I've only seen a couple. Without antivenom, death from this snake's bite is almost a given.

[Bigs]

My girlfriend and I were standing on shore once about a year ago and she saw one swimming away from us. She dove into the water and chased it into a bush along the shoreline.

She also grabbed a baby copperhead by the head back in september when she found our cat playing with it in our front yard. Babies are the deadliest becuz they spit all their venom on the first bite unlike an adult snake who only spits enough and saves the rest for more bites if needed. I actually videotaped her holding the copperhead while I chopped his head off in my kitchen. I need to figure out how to upload a video on here. She really is probably the baddest beatch you will ever encounter. And on a sidenote, I have seen her beat one of my 140 pound friends who has done some cage fighting, just to give you an idea. Granted he had about 5 beers in him, but still quite impressive. She got him into a submission and he tapped out in front of about half a dozen ppl. Her and I wrestled around one night and she tossed me and I ended up bruising several ribs which took many months to heal. She was raised on a farm, grew up fighting boys and is fearless and sometimes downright mindless. Love her to death but I hate to pi$$ her off haha

[Sam]

These animals are from the viper family and they can be aggressive.

Fishing in south Louisiana we encountered them in the Des Almonds.

They would strike at the aluminum skiff as we went by. Used rod tip to knock them away.

Uncle told me that a leaky condom and a water moccasin have one thing in common: you don't f*@& with either.

Better words have never been said. 

[newriverfisherman1953]

I try to kill every snake that I see.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

I see them all the time. They're pretty awesome to look at. Killing them is pointless. just dont bother them and they wont bother you   8-)

[Captain Obvious]

One time will I was fishing in a pond I was tight lining for catfish.

Then all the sudden a moccasin comes swimming up and wants to get on shore right where my pole was!! I just backed up and let him have his space so he would get on the bank and leave. As soon as I take a step back my pole takes off into the water. I was going to jump in after it but that dang snake was right in front of me. So I lost the rod and reel and didn't even get to kill the snake. >

Capt.O

[Fishbone]

My brother inlaw told me when he was a kid in SC, him and his buddy snuck his dad's boat out one night. They had a lantern in the boat. A moccasin climbs into the boat, attracted by the light. They are fussing with it when a bunch more climb in, to where they dove into the water and swam like hell to shore without getting bit.

He had another story where on the last day of school, a bunch of them headed to a creek to go swimming. Pulling off clothes and doing the "last one in" thing, this one kid is first to dive in. He starts yelling and comes running up the bank with mocs hanging off of him. Poor kid didn't make it.

[Nine Miler]

I try to kill every snake that I see.

I have read (and made) some ignorant posts on this site, but this is the most ignorant one I have come across to date.