Cottonmouth / Water Moccasin Care & Natural History

[findi]

Hi, Frank Indiviglio here. I’m a herpetologist, zoologist, and book author, recently retired from a career spent at several zoos, aquariums, and museums, including over 20 years with the Bronx Zoo. Big and bold, the Cottonmouth or Water Moccasin is one of the most frequently-encountered of the USA’s venomous snakes. Stories of its alleged ferocity abound, and many folks living within its range are convinced that it goes out of its way to attack people. I’ve had the chance to work with this impressive serpent at the Bronx and Staten Island Zoos (Note: venomous snakes should never be kept in private collections), and to observe it in the wild, and have found its actual habits to be far more interesting than the supposed ones! From scavenging road-killed pigs to turning up in areas far north of where most people “expect” it, the Cottonmouth is full of surprises. Today I’ll focus on the natural history and captive care of the Eastern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorous picivorous), with some comments on the 2 related subspecies. Read the rest of this article here http://bit.ly/ZbuwuQ
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My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with: http://bitly.com/LC8Lbp

 

[Dizzle]

Good stuff, always enjoy reading factual information about animals that people often have such a fear of that they fail to treat it with the respect it is due. Thanks for sharing.

 

[The Snark]

I strongly suspect there are more fanciful tales told about the cottonmouth than any other snake out there. Seems like every generation has a new set of ridiculous claims about the snake. It's like a cultural thing. If you don't have a weird cottonmouth story...
It's nice to see real information disseminated. The snake does have some interesting habits, even though it can't leap off the ground and fly through the air to bite you or chew through the wire of it's cage..

Off the subject somewhat, I got into a weird discussion with a couple of herpetologists a while back and was thinking the OP might be willing to weigh in.
Of all the venomous snakes, which one has the smallest strike zone?

 

[findi]

Good stuff, always enjoy reading factual information about animals that people often have such a fear of that they fail to treat it with the respect it is due. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words!

---------- Post added 09-06-2014 at 10:58 AM ----------

Thanks; I've not seen anything authoritative on strike range, etc...so many variables.