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Hi, I'm Ginger Black. I'm a professional snake handler with Expert Village. Say you're out
fishing on a river, a creek, or in a pond close to home, and you see a snake in the
water. The first thing that's likely to come to mind is Water Moccasin. Well, number one,
it's very likely to be just a common water snake that's completely harmless. If it is,
however, a venomous animal, it's called a Cottonmouth. They're called this because of
the bright white interior of their mouth to a slightly pinkish color that I think looks
like cotton candy. These are venomous. There are a lot of old wives tales that go with
this. You'll hear people say that they were chased by a Water Moccasin as they were walking
along the riverbank. Well, that's not true. If the snake is coming towards you, it's probably
because he's trying to get in the hole over there behind you somewhere, not coming to
attack you. They don't want anything to do with you. I keep saying that, but that's just
the truth. There are other tales about Cottonmouths falling out of a tree into the bottom of a
boat, somebody shooting a hole in the bottom of the boat trying to kill that snake, and
they're sinking their fishing boat. Well, that's completely unnecessary should one fall
in your boat. It's not a Cottonmouth. Cottonmouths don't climb trees. Other common water snakes
do climb out on a sunny branch to bask in the sun. Cottonmouths don't. They also like
to sleep in the sun, but it's going to be on the bank of that river, creek, pond, or
whatever. These are very common places to find them. You may also find them in a ditch
that holds water all the time. But, again, they're not going to come tearing out of that
ditch to chase you down the road. It's just not going to happen. If you do see them, it's
probably a complete accident. They don't want anything to do with you. They'd rather be
left alone.