Need help IDing snake

[kyletxria1911a1]

My only concern is it dead

 

[satx78247]

All of them occur in nature. All of his original breeder snakes were wild caught as juveniles. The oddballs like the ones pictured( leucistic ,patternless, and albino) generally don’t grow into adults in the wild.

Hoji,

THANKS for the answer.

FYI, the "pattern-less" & pastel-color PINKISH/TAN adult COTTONMOUTH, that is pictured on this site must be REALLY RARE, as it is an ADULT & was sighted/photographed IN NATURE.


yours, satx
TMN, Alamo Area Chapter

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

Next question do they make nice boots

 

[Axxe55]

Next question do they make nice boots

You might ask SATX about that 16 pound cottonmouth he killed. I'm pretty sure that would make at least several pairs of boots.

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

You might ask SATX about that 16 pound cottonmouth he killed. I'm pretty sure that would make at least several pairs of boots.

Now that would put some excitement in your life

 

[Axxe55]

Now that would put some excitement in your life

A 16 pounder would be in a couple of ways. I think the world record is 74 inches, and just over 10 pounds. Average weight of a large cottonmouth is about 3 to 4 pounds, and that's still a very large snake.

 

[Hoji]

A 16 pounder would be in a couple of ways. I think the world record is 74 inches, and just over 10 pounds. Average weight of a large cottonmouth is about 3 to 4 pounds, and that's still a very large snake.

I have caught eastern cottonmouths that were easily over 6’ and if I had to guess on the weight, one may have easily hit the 15+ mark. Caught in a fish trap in the early 80’s on the St. John’s River. There were no fish in the trap, just a huge moccasin.

 

[Axxe55]

I have caught eastern cottonmouths that were easily over 6’ and if I had to guess on the weight, one may have easily hit the 15+ mark. Caught in a fish trap in the early 80’s on the St. John’s River. There were no fish in the trap, just a huge moccasin.

I would have see one to believe it. I have killed more than a few in the 3 to 5 pound range in years past, and they were very large snakes.

I'm not saying they don't exist that large, but I would venture a guess that one large would be rare.

I think some people either embellish or exaggerate the size of large snakes, when they are truly not as long or as heavy as they think they are. A six foot diamondback rattler is still a very large snake. Even a five footer is still a decent sized snake nad capable of doing lots of damage to a person if bitten.

 

[Hoji]

I would have see one to believe it. I have killed more than a few in the 3 to 5 pound range in years past, and they were very large snakes.

I'm not saying they don't exist that large, but I would venture a guess that one large would be rare.

I think some people either embellish or exaggerate the size of large snakes, when they are truly not as long or as heavy as they think they are. A six foot diamondback rattler is still a very large snake. Even a five footer is still a decent sized snake nad capable of doing lots of damage to a person if bitten.

Huge difference in size from an eastern and a western cottonmouth. Same as an eastern and western coral snake and eastern and western diamond back rattlesnake. Not everything is bigger in Texas Florida has us whooped on native reptiles.

 

[satx78247]

Next question do they make nice boots

kyletxria1911a1,

TRUTH is that I don't know ANYBODY, who has boots MADE of COTTONMOUTH skin BUT can think of NO reason that it would NOT work OK..
(FYI, I once had a pair made by TONY LAMA of RATTLESNAKE skin & also a pair made of KING COBRA skin made by the late JUAN ORTEGA de VACA in Saltillo, Mexico..)

NETX has PLENTY of COTTONMOUTHS that are large enough to make into boots.

yours, satx

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

kyletxria1911a1,

TRUTH is that I don't know ANYBODY, who has boots MADE of COTTONMOUTH skin BUT can think of NO reason that it would NOT work OK..
(FYI, I once had a pair made by TONY LAMA of RATTLESNAKE skin & also a pair made of KING COBRA skin made by the late JUAN ORTEGA de VACA in Saltillo, Mexico..)

NETX has PLENTY of COTTONMOUTHS that are large enough to make into boots.

yours, satx

Baby I hear he made outstanding boots ive got a pair of python but isn't cotton mouth a rattler?

 

[Axxe55]

Huge difference in size from an eastern and a western cottonmouth. Same as an eastern and western coral snake and eastern and western diamond back rattlesnake. Not everything is bigger in Texas Florida has us whooped on native reptiles.

I do know that there are differences in sizes of different species of snakes, based upon their native locations.

Just that over the years, I have seen way too many embellished, or exaggerated tales of snakes being longer, or larger than they really were. Add in the internet, and lots of faked or exaggerated photos to make a snake look larger or longer than it really was.

 

[Hoji]

On my post above-
Ross Allen offered a

I do know that there are differences in sizes of different species of snakes, based upon their native locations.

Just that over the years, I have seen way too many embellished, or exaggerated tales of snakes being longer, or larger than they really were. Add in the internet, and lots of faked or exaggerated photos to make a snake look larger or longer than it really was.

As have I, but as a kid, I grew up in undeveloped Florida in the days before cell phones, the internet, and widely distributed forced angle photographs.
Ross Allen’s $1,000 reward for an 8’ Eastern Diamondback ( alive or dead) never got collected, but then of the millions of folks killing rattlesnakes from the 1930’s through the 1980’s , how many knew about it? I have personally seen C. Adamanteus specimens that were well over 8’ growing up. Wasn’t until after Ross died that a live specimen was caught. Record weight for an EDB is 34lbs and some change.

 

[Hoji]

Another thing to remember about the bigger reptiles;
They typically get that big away from humans, and in the case of the extra jumbo cottonmouths, no one brings them back from a canoe/John boat trip as they stink, don’t taste good, and most that are killed out on a fishing trip are shot and no one wants to stick their hand in /near water that the snakes share with alligators , lol.

 

[Axxe55]

Another thing to remember about the bigger reptiles;
They typically get that big away from humans, and in the case of the extra jumbo cottonmouths, no one brings them back from a canoe/John boat trip as they stink, don’t taste good, and most that are killed out on a fishing trip are shot and no one wants to stick their hand in /near water that the snakes share with alligators , lol.

That is true. And live or dead, I ain't dragging no cottonmouth into my boat!

 

[MTA]

@MTA89 can you measure that one? I'm curious as to how long it is. Hard to tell in the picture.

I didnt forget well I forgot a tape measure. Size 13 foot for comparison

 

[Kayt00]

I'd say that's a young snake for sure.

As for the large cotton mouth thing I don't doubt that they might get that big but I'd also have to ask if one is 100% certain that it was/is a cotton mouth. There are common water snakes (black and banded) that VERY closely mimick everything about a cotton mouth including color, defensive posturing, habitat, and right on down to the smell. They're also damn aggressive and your fortunate to catch one without getting bitten or at the very least musked on. Just food for thought.

 

[satx78247]

Baby I hear he made outstanding boots ive got a pair of python but isn't cotton mouth a rattler?

kletxria1911a1,

NOPE. While a COTTONMOUTH WATER MOCCASIN is a PIT VIPER & thus a distant "cousin of" the various sorts of Rattlesnakes, they are a REALLY different venomous reptile & generally MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE toward people, too.

Also, the bite of a Cottonmouth is MUCH worse, as the Water Moccasin is a CARRION EATER & his mouth is filled with all manner of infectious/dangerous micro-organisms.
Even in cases where the snake does NOT inject any venom with its strike (a so-called "DRY BITE"), the victim will nearly always NEED serious medical intervention/care for the resultant infection(s).
(When I was bitten by a juvenile Cottonmouth over 40 years ago while "gigging frogs", I had to be admitted to a local hospital for several days to be treated with several liters of IV ANTIBIOTICS for the RAGING BACTERIAL INFECTION that I received from what was otherwise "a dry bite".)

yours, satx

 

[lonestardiver]

Any snake bite is going to be a series of puncture wounds.
Those with fangs are going to be a deeper puncture wound to deal with. But even a rat snake, Boa, Python, coachwhip, etc will leave 20-60 punctures and depending on the size of the snake and the purpose of biting, those can be deep enough to hurt. They all can be an avenue to infection.

The 2 worst snake bites I have had were from an adult coachwhip and an 8’ Burmese python. It took me about 15 minutes to get the python detached from my hand. The coachwhip was a wild caught specimen we had at a pet store since the individual could not get it to eat. It was not happy with me moving it to clean out its enclosure and tagged me pretty good...likely it was thinking food since other snakes were being fed and mouse was the meal de jour. It clamps down with its jaws and doesn’t let up...with short straight teeth they are not fun. The python have rearward curved teeth to help keep prey items moving towards the gullet. So the one that got me (at feeding time, my fault entirely) had most of my had with all the teeth engage to prevent me from pulling hand back. Once the snake realized I was not a prey item we worked to get it disentangled from my hand. It lost a couple of teeth in the process but that never seemed to be an issue.

 

[Axxe55]

I'd say that's a young snake for sure.

As for the large cotton mouth thing I don't doubt that they might get that big but I'd also have to ask if one is 100% certain that it was/is a cotton mouth. There are common water snakes (black and banded) that VERY closely mimick everything about a cotton mouth including color, defensive posturing, habitat, and right on down to the smell. They're also damn aggressive and your fortunate to catch one without getting bitten or at the very least musked on. Just food for thought.

Saw a very large water snake just about a week ago here at the farm. Very large fellow, that at first I though it was a cottonmouth, but watching and looking closer it was just a large water snake. I shooed him back to the swamp!