Does this bother you?

[southeasthog]

Does this make you watch the ground the whole time you are in the woods?

[pharm]

I'm not afraid of little worms

[Burnt Orange Sucks]

The real scary thing is that there is no telling how many times whether hunting or fishing that we've walked right by one of those suckers!!!!!!

[Landonhog]

God, I hate those fat smelly things....  I've had two that were at least that size drop into the canoe with me last year...  I'll get some pictures of their remains posted....  I could tell some horror stories about these, but I'll spare you the long explaination....  In short, we had to pack up and leave in the middle of the night, when we were canoe camping on the Little River (same size as the buffalo, but in SE Oklahoma); because we came across 5 cottonmouth and 2 copperheads in about 5-10 minutes (all around our tents)....  BAD!!!  My dad and I don't mind snakes one bit, but that night was just too much....  We paddled about another mile down stream in the dark to another gravel bar..... 

[southeasthog]

I'm the worlds worst about walking in the woods during turkey season without a light. There is no telling how many of these b*stards I almost step on. The good thing is that when I start seeing snakes, I tell my buddies and most say "screw that" and I have the bottoms to myself. lol

[SultanofSwine]

Not all that much but I would prefer if he was leaking or had a bad case of flathead. Been struck at twice cruising through the woods, luckily both were misses because I happened to see them in time to jump the frick out of the way. One was about that size the other one was about half that size. If eithe one had been grown, I would have been in trouble because I couldn't have gotten far enough out of the way of a full strike.

[Buff]

I never worry about those motherfrickers.  I leave most snakes alone, but I see one of those, it will die.  I actually jumped off a 4wheeler last summer and almost landed on a cottonmouth just to kill a it.  Everyone who saw it now thinks I'm too stupid for help.  If any of you know where Maddux Bay is, I spent a good amount of time out on the island.  That place is not for those scared of snakes.

[SultanofSwine]

You need to stay out of there. Way too many snakes!!! I'll let you know when it is safe for you to come back.

[southeasthog]

The picture doesn't do this snake justice. I gaurantee you that this bad boy was full grown. I took this pic in Overflow NWR in south Ark. I saw one in Cut-Off Creek WMA this year that struck at me that was 3 foot long and as big around as my wrist. The one at the top was only slightly smaller.

[SultanofSwine]

They come in a much bigger model at the Bay, trust me. I figgured the one in the pic was close to 3. Believe me when you run up on one pushin 5 and as big as your calf you will call that one little.

[southeasthog]

A 5 foot cottonmouth is a HUGE! I've only seen a few that will push that barrier. Generally that is the exception instead of the rule. Where is Maddux Bay? Sounds like my kind of place.

[Buff]

about 15-20 (?) minutes south of Holly Grove on Hwy. 17.  find a map and look up Lawrenceville, and you've found one of the boat ramps.  don't plan on going fishing on the bay during the summer.

[SultanofSwine]

Yeah, the fishin sucks

SE, I do a large marjority of my hunting down around Trusten Holder and the south unit of the refuge so I am accustomed to them big arse cottonmouths. The Bay is obviously in the north unit and I have just recently started hunting up there with some friends that have a cabin there.

[Big Papa Satan]

With a yard surrounded by rice and bean fields, cottonmouths are a way of life around here.

They don't bother me much.  I have a sawed-off 410 called the Snakecharmer.  Works every time.

[southeasthog]

Is this one of the Maddux Bay cottonmouths?

[Buff]

almost

[qakhed]

I killed one at our cabin a couple weekends ago that was that size. I HATE snakes! I wear snake boots during archery season and turkey season.

[qakhed]

(The size of the 3' one, not that snakezilla in the last post.)

[noprayerfornutt]

southeast, Karma for you just to have the nads to get close enough to one of those bastards to get a pic.

[tophawg19]

snake boots are money well spent , i've had 2 hits but they couldn't bite through . the chaps are good too but get to hot .

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

My neighbor got bit by a copperhead last summer on his thumb.
He was pulling up some grass (only about 6 inches) near the air conditioner and that sucker was laying righ there. They gave him 3 times the normal dosage of morphene and he said it still felt like someone was lining his thumb up on a board and slamming it with a hammer every 15 seconds...

We have copperheads and rattlesnakes back behind our backyard and sometimes in the yard.  One of our neighbors' cats started hanging out there and we have never seen a snake since.  Needless to say, we feed that cat as much as possible to keep him around.

[southeasthog]

southeast, Karma for you just to have the nads to get close enough to one of those bastards to get a pic.

Thanks for the karma. Snakes have never bothered me much. (only when I step on 'em). My mom used to get mad about me bringing snakes home when I was a kid. I used to love to freak people out by catching them.

[southeasthog]

My neighbor got bit by a copperhead last summer on his thumb.
He was pulling up some grass (only about 6 inches) near the air conditioner and that sucker was laying righ there. They gave him 3 times the normal dosage of morphene and he said it still felt like someone was lining his thumb up on a board and slamming it with a hammer every 15 seconds...

We have copperheads and rattlesnakes back behind our backyard and sometimes in the yard.  One of our neighbors' cats started hanging out there and we have never seen a snake since.  Needless to say, we feed that cat as much as possible to keep him around.

My son was bit by a copperhead when he was about 14. Got him on the pinky. His hand swole like a grapefruit. They kept him in the hospital overnight giving antibiotics. They said that they only give antivenom if they have to because it can be worse than the venom in some cases.

[PulledPork]

antivenom is a nasty critter in itself, and your right, only in the worst case scenarios.

the biggest thing to worry about with bites to toes and fingers is "compartment syndrome."


Pulled out...

[Buff]

"compartment syndrome"? i gotta know.....what's that?

[pioneerhog]

The one good thing about snakes around here is that most of them will not kill you if they bite you. Now they will make you sick as a dog and make you hurt like hell.

[pioneerhog]

Back to the Cottonmouths. Next time someone kills one the size of snakezilla up there try not to smash it's head to bad, I want you to check and see if it still has fangs.



The reason for this is that when I was somewhere around 12-13 I went on a swamp ride in southern LA. Well before it left out I got out and was doing some looking around the guys place. Well I was down by the water when a cottonmouth that looked to be 7 foot long and as big around as my thigh took off in the water, at that point there was two movement, a bowel movement and me moving, when I ran around the corner of the guys place he was stand outside laughing his ass off and asked me if I found his little snake. I proceded to tell him that it was no little snake and this and that and he told me that when a cottonmouth gets that big and old that they no longer have fangs, he says at a certain age they lose them. Now I have never really believed this enough to just reach down and pick one of those big SOBs up but I have always wondered if it is true. So I want one of yall that kill one of those big sobs to find out for me.

[PulledPork]

"compartment syndrome"? i gotta know.....what's that?

it is a condition that occurs from excessive swelling.  the swelling will cut off circulation to the tips of the affected digits and the tissue will die, if you don't correct it soon enough.  to correct it usually requires a fasciotomy.

Pulled out...

[pioneerhog]

Let me tell you guys about one of my recent experiences with a snake while fishing.


I was fishing a stream here locally that I fish quite a bit and had only see one snake on it and it was just a plain ole water snake but I know several that have seen some cottonmouths on it. I got to a hole that I usually catch a bunch of brownies and was fishing it. Well on one end of this hole there is a big rock that sticks up out of the water that I always climb up on and fish off of. This time I didn't notice that at some point when the creek was up that some limbs and leaves had washed up on top of the rock. I grabbed ahold of the rock with both hands to climb up on it and about as soon as I did a 3 foot or so, what I believe to be, cottonmouth came out from underneth those leaves. Well needless to stay I didn't stick around long enough to make sure what kind of snake it was or anything but the people I was with said it sure looked like a cottonmouth and that it did strike at me, but I don't know and frankly I don't give a damn.

[southeasthog]

Here's one to think about. Last fall I was bowhunting in early october. My lock-on was on a red oak about 15 feet off the ground. It was still about an hour before dark so I had my binoculars out and was looking at the acorns on the tree. I saw a snake 7 or 8 feet above me. It was only a green snake but he was sleeping 20 to 25 feet in the air. It made me wonder how many other snakes I have shared a tree with.

[Snort and Squeal]

Thanks guys... I am sure to have nightmares all night now.

[Snort and Squeal]

A buddy of mine stepped on a copperhead on his sidewalk one night and it bit him on the foot.  It literally looked like he had a basketball on the end of his leg for a week.

[Hawgon]

Back to the Cottonmouths. Next time someone kills one the size of snakezilla up there try not to smash it's head to bad, I want you to check and see if it still has fangs.



The reason for this is that when I was somewhere around 12-13 I went on a swamp ride in southern LA. Well before it left out I got out and was doing some looking around the guys place. Well I was down by the water when a cottonmouth that looked to be 7 foot long and as big around as my thigh took off in the water, at that point there was two movement, a bowel movement and me moving, when I ran around the corner of the guys place he was stand outside laughing his ass off and asked me if I found his little snake. I proceded to tell him that it was no little snake and this and that and he told me that when a cottonmouth gets that big and old that they no longer have fangs, he says at a certain age they lose them. Now I have never really believed this enough to just reach down and pick one of those big SOBs up but I have always wondered if it is true. So I want one of yall that kill one of those big sobs to find out for me.

No, they still have fangs.  However, cottonmouths almost never exceed 4 ft.  The biggest one I have ever seen was 5 3" long.  I know because I shot that sucker in the head with a pellet gun when I was a kid.

Now there is a type of watersnake that looks almost exactly like a water mocasin, right down to a diamond shaped head and it gets very large.  I have seen them swimming around that would have gone better than  6 feet.  Your friend probably killed one of those and noticed that it didn't have fangs, and thus, the story about cottonmouths not having fangs once they got that big was born.

[PulledPork]

Back to the Cottonmouths. Next time someone kills one the size of snakezilla up there try not to smash it's head to bad, I want you to check and see if it still has fangs.



The reason for this is that when I was somewhere around 12-13 I went on a swamp ride in southern LA. Well before it left out I got out and was doing some looking around the guys place. Well I was down by the water when a cottonmouth that looked to be 7 foot long and as big around as my thigh took off in the water, at that point there was two movement, a bowel movement and me moving, when I ran around the corner of the guys place he was stand outside laughing his ass off and asked me if I found his little snake. I proceded to tell him that it was no little snake and this and that and he told me that when a cottonmouth gets that big and old that they no longer have fangs, he says at a certain age they lose them. Now I have never really believed this enough to just reach down and pick one of those big SOBs up but I have always wondered if it is true. So I want one of yall that kill one of those big sobs to find out for me.

No, they still have fangs.  However, cottonmouths almost never exceed 4 ft.  The biggest one I have ever seen was 5 3" long.  I know because I shot that sucker in the head with a pellet gun when I was a kid.

Now there is a type of watersnake that looks almost exactly like a water mocasin, right down to a diamond shaped head and it gets very large.  I have seen them swimming around that would have gone better than  6 feet.  Your friend probably killed one of those and noticed that it didn't have fangs, and thus, the story about cottonmouths not having fangs once they got that big was born.

well dangit!  you just went and ruined everyones fun, Mr. Mythbuster!!


Pulled out...

[Hogward R. Murrow]

When I was young pup, I would take my rig and walk the creeks fishing for anything that would bite.  I was 10 years old and way down in the woods one day and walked out on this big old rotten log to fish a hard spot.  I caught a little bream and was enjoying the "fight". I slowly started to reel in and noticed one of them ugly monsters following my fish. He wouldn't stop. I bit my line off and ran like hell. I forgot my nice buck knife on the log but I wouldn't go back there in the summer. As soon as it snowed I went back and the knife was gone.

[pioneerhog]

Back to the Cottonmouths. Next time someone kills one the size of snakezilla up there try not to smash it's head to bad, I want you to check and see if it still has fangs.



The reason for this is that when I was somewhere around 12-13 I went on a swamp ride in southern LA. Well before it left out I got out and was doing some looking around the guys place. Well I was down by the water when a cottonmouth that looked to be 7 foot long and as big around as my thigh took off in the water, at that point there was two movement, a bowel movement and me moving, when I ran around the corner of the guys place he was stand outside laughing his ass off and asked me if I found his little snake. I proceded to tell him that it was no little snake and this and that and he told me that when a cottonmouth gets that big and old that they no longer have fangs, he says at a certain age they lose them. Now I have never really believed this enough to just reach down and pick one of those big SOBs up but I have always wondered if it is true. So I want one of yall that kill one of those big sobs to find out for me.

No, they still have fangs.  However, cottonmouths almost never exceed 4 ft.  The biggest one I have ever seen was 5 3" long.  I know because I shot that sucker in the head with a pellet gun when I was a kid.

Now there is a type of watersnake that looks almost exactly like a water mocasin, right down to a diamond shaped head and it gets very large.  I have seen them swimming around that would have gone better than  6 feet.  Your friend probably killed one of those and noticed that it didn't have fangs, and thus, the story about cottonmouths not having fangs once they got that big was born.

I never said I believed him. He was born and raised in the swamp so I kinda figure he knows what a cottonmouth is. I have seen cottonmouths bigger than 4 foot several different times. However I do agree that most of them won't exceed 4 feet but it isn't real uncommon in certain areas to see them over 4 feet. Here is a link to some good info about these snakes and several good pics of them as well.

http://www.snakesofarkansas.com/wiki/Main/AgkistrodonPiscivorus

[SultanofSwine]

Based on my experiences, I am going to disagree with the author about the attitude and actions of a cottonmouth. Cool site though.

[qakhed]

I love frog gigging! Haven't done it in years though