Honestly think we are saying the same thing coming at it from two different directions. Evidently I am not communicating with typed word on the flat screen very well.
Please accept my apologies. For some reason, I was completely reading "cottonmouth" as "copperhead" yesterday. I literally thought you guys were all insane. Doh.
I respect your right to your opinion, but strongly disagree. It is unwritten code of ethics in West Texas to kill every rattlesnake when confronted. Why? Because someone in area gets bit every year. I have had 3 different friends in the past 4 years get bitten. I have had two dogs bitten as well. Will never kill them all I understand, and there are beneficial elements to them as well, but being in the cattle business, I am not going to leave the one I see so he has the chance to bite the next person, dog, horse or cow.
There're all cobras to me !! Hard to find a post lately that's not a argument of some sort, or somebody looking for one WTF Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It wouldn't be much of a forum if we all agreed all the time. Do they really harm cows and horses when bitten? As far as killing every venomous snake I see... I prefer to leave them alone. Maybe it's a bigger problem in Texas... everything is bigger in Texas, right?
Okay... to try to get this straight. A "Water Moccasin". IS definitely a "Cottonmouth." They are the EXACT same (venomous not poisonous) species of pit viper, called different names like a panther, cougar and mountain lion. Most people who claim to have seen a Water Moccasin, have misidentified, a common water snake, usually a banded water snake, which has the ability to flatten its body to appear larger. They are also fairly aggressive when messed with... and can give a nasty, non venomous bite, prone to infection which may still need medical treatment. I often catch these when they swim by my boat. Now I live very close to the river, fish a lot, and see hundreds of snakes every year... hundreds... I see no more than 2-3 actual "Water Moccasin AKA Cottonmouths" per year. I actually see more Copperheads and Rattlers, which is still not very many. The easiest way to identify a "Moccasin" is the whitish face pattern with a dark band over his eyes. They are a very thick snake but have no single coloration pattern. The tale tell sign to stay away is the stubby tale on a thick body. Look at the picture I shared. Any American species of viper has that stubby tail.
King Snakes come in unlimited color patterns. The thing to notice is the tail... if you have time. Don't go by the triangular head myth... many non venomous snakes have a triangular head. If the body is thick until close to the end, where it suddenly forms a tail... stay away. If it gradually tapers into a tail over its whole length... its not a viper. King snakes kill other snakes, including venomous snakes and will rid your yard of far more venomous snakes than you will ever be able to.
