Psst! It's That Time of Year Again

Water mosscasin. Photo by John White.

With the warm weather, the fishing is heating up, and increased numbers of people are flocking to the water on weekends. It's in everyone's best interests to remember, however, that this time of year also is when lots of other critters start heating up and becoming active. Among those critters are watersnakes and cottonmouths (aka "water moccasins"). Here is some helpful tips on identification and behavior of these often misunderstood animals, as published in the latest Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries The Outdoor Report.

The distribution of cottonmouths in Virginia is primarily limited to the southeastern part of the state, particularly the southern regions of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, with isolated populations in Brunswick, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, and York counties, as well as the cities of Suffolk and Newport News. Watersnakes, on the other hand, are found statewide, in every county and municipality. They also occupy a wider variety of aquatic habitats, including lakes and reservoirs, streams, rivers, ditches, and even ornamental backyard ponds.

In Virginia, there are three species of watersnakes: brown, northern and plain-bellied. The northern watersnake is the most widely distributed, and the brown watersnake is the largest. It can reach a length of nearly 6 feet. Of the three species, the northern watersnake is, by far, the most misidentified as a cottonmouth.

Northern watersnakes (Nerodia sipidon) are brown to gray, with varying amounts of red, yellow and white. The body is thick and robust, with several blotches and crossbands on the back. Although the head is rounded in shape, they often will flatten their head as a defensive response, giving it a more "diamond-shaped" appearance.

Northern cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) also are a heavy-bodied snake. However, their coloration is more dark green to almost black, with several dark brown to black hourglass-shaped bands. The head is flattened and angular in appearance. Another common way to identify cottonmouths from watersnakes is how they swim. Unlike watersnakes that swim with their body just below the surface, cottonmouths float on the water. However, other species of nonvenomous snakes, such as the eastern hog-nose, also will float on the water.

Although cottonmouths put on a well-known defensive display, known as "mouth gaping," their aggressive behavior is the stuff of folklore and fish tales. Stories of them attacking boats and water skiers is pure fiction and the imagination of Hollywood movies and television. Those of you who are a little longer in the tooth may remember the famous scene in Lonesome Dove where a cowboy falls into a river and is attacked by a "nest of cottonmouths." This perhaps was the beginning of the urban legend of water skiers falling and being attacked by cottonmouths. In reality, cottonmouths are quite reluctant to strike and will usually choose flight over fight.

Something that many freshwater anglers have experienced is a snake falling from a bush or tree into their boat. This experience can be quite startling to even the most hardcore angler. However, an overwhelming majority of these incidents involve harmless watersnakes. Brown and plain-bellied watersnakes are particularly notorious for this behavior, as they can be found 20 feet up a tree, basking on limbs overhanging the water. Being heavy-bodied, cottonmouths are not very good climbers and seldom are seen more than a few feet up in a bush.

In the end, snakes just want to be left alone. According to naturalist Clifford Pope, from back in the 1850s, "Snakes are first cowards, then bluffers, and last of all, warriors."