cotton mouth

[sfiser]

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 11:57 AM, siusaluki said:

Not a cottonmouth, they are not found in heavily Springfed watersheds like RR.  

totally agree with this.  I have fished RR since I was a kid and I wade all the less trafficked spots like the lower end and the catch and release area.  I have seen a lot of snakes there but not once have I seen a cotton mouth.  The place is full of banded water snakes but those things are harmless (still I wouldn't pick one up because they will give you a nip).  I feel bad for those banded water snakes because they are always confused as cotton mouths and a lot of them get the ax because of it.  Not saying there isn't a few cotton mouths on the river but in the thousands of hours I have spent there, I haven't encountered one.

[ollie]

I have never encountered a cottonmouth at RR either.  Lots of water snakes and I mean LOTS of them around there and I have stepped on them before.  Although didn't someone get a bite from a timber or pygmy rattler a few years back by the swimming pool?

[bassfisher]

On Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 11:57 AM, siusaluki said:

Not a cottonmouth, they are not found in heavily Springfed watersheds like RR.  

My friend there are plenty there, I grew up on a farm so I know a cotton mouth from a water snake, cotton mouth has thick body water snakes are more slender. Plus this winter was a warmer winter, 

[bassfisher]

Well what is this

[bassfisher]

This is what I saw

[bassman1308]

I hope it was the same one I saw.  Don't need several of these crawling around RR.        

[fishinwrench]

Looks like the tail of a Cottonmouth with the body and head of a rattler.   Some freakin' herp-scientist prolly created it.

[trythisonemv]

Disagree on cottonmouths not being in springfed watersheds . They are at crane and all over the niangua around Bennett.  The creek that runs in right there where they saw said snake is a warmer creek anyway so it s definitely a possibility.  I've personally never seen cottonmouths at roaring though. 

[Al Agnew]

For once I gotta disagree with Siusaluki...in the Ozarks, cottonmouths have an affinity to springs and heavily spring fed creeks.  I learned this back when I was a kid (but could already ID cottonmouths because my dad taught me what to look for and I also studied snakes a lot), we fished Wappapello Lake a lot, and there was a backwater with a good sized spring feeding it, making a little bay about the size of a living room in the long, winding backwater channel.  The whole channel looked like a place to see cottonmouths, but we ALWAYS saw a couple in that little bay, and seldom anywhere else in the backwater.  And that was almost the only place we ever saw cottonmouths on the lake.

The upper Jacks Fork is full of cottonmouths, too...not super cold spring water but certainly not what you'd picture these southern snakes liking.

However...one thing I've noticed is that cottonmouths shy away from high traffic areas.  

In the book "The Reptiles and Amphibians of Missouri", Tom Johnson says,"In the Ozarks, this species occurs in scattered populations in cool, spring-fed, rocky creeks and rivers.  In that habitat, cottonmouths are highly nocturnal and secretive."

Having said all that, I'll add my two cents worth on whether they should be killed...Whenever somebody brings up the "Oh my god, a kid could get bitten" card, respect for nature for what it is goes out the window.  No kids have been bitten at RR.  If you're worried about kids getting bitten, keep them away from places where you can't see if there are any snakes or not.  Teach them to avoid snakes.  Don't kill every snake you see just in case it might, at some nebulous future date, run afoul of a child.  Like I said in my first post, this is nature.  You can't remove all the risks.

[jdmidwest]

The spring branch on the 11pt has some trophy ones.  Its about the biggest, most remote spring around, and they love it.  Spring River has them too in Arkansas, but it is a little warmer.

They are not as rare as one would believe.  I usually encounter one every few trips.  One trip on the upper 11pt from Thomasville to Cane Bluff, there was at least one in every hole.  I had one that trip coiled up and floating a run in front of the kayak, just drifting in the current.  Later that day, I floated thru a section with high bank and overhanging small trees.  There was one hanging over my head about 15' in the air.  I was glad we were off the water before dark that day. 

And, they all float on top of the water.  It's almost like they ride above the surface tension which makes them more creepy.  I don't know whether they are curious or aggressive, but they always seem to head toward the boat.  I had to bump one at the lake with a bobber and line to make him back off Sunday.  Maybe its the heat coming off a boat that gets their attention.