Cottonmouth Water Mocasin

[jprzybyla]

When out at the marsh this morning I came upon this snake in the grass. Thank God I was paying attention because otherwise I would be in a lot of hurt. After shooting a few images my wife and I gave it a wide berth, continuing on our way. C&C welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

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[Geoff F]

Interesting shots, Joe. Possibly the grass is a big bright on the last one but otherwise good.

[jprzybyla]

Interesting shots, Joe. Possibly the grass is a big bright on the last one but otherwise good.

Hello Geoff, thank you for viewing and commenting. I agree the grass was too bright, easily fixed. I did the change and posted the edit above.

[Geoff F]

Yes, that looks better.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Glad your safe first of all and good capture 2nd. They are a dangerous species for sure and very aggressive. A little prodding with a long stick and you would have been able to capture the reason they are named cottonmouth.
I'm too old to take the risk any more.

[jprzybyla]

Glad your safe first of all and good capture 2nd. They are a dangerous species for sure and very aggressive. A little prodding with a long stick and you would have been able to capture the reason they are named cottonmouth.
I'm too old to take the risk any more.

Thanks Carl, ditto on too old to take a risk. At 69 years old I have slowed down and do not need an angry snake decide it wants to chase me.

[jeeperman]

A good snake to give a wide berth. Glad you did so. Your captures reminded me of a day in Oklahoma that I was chased out of a pond and 30ft up the river bank by one. I used my fishing pole to slow him but he would not give up and had me cornered. I would have rather let him go about his way but not wanting anything but a taste of me, my pop put him down. None to soon if I do say so myself. Never realized how fast they can chase you.

[gcowan]

Joe,

What worries me about the last image is how quickly the snake disappears into the grass. Makes them a bit hard to avoid.

A very nice set of images.

I haven't got a long enough lens for the job I think it calls for about 1000mm?

Graham

[jprzybyla]

A good snake to give a wide berth. Glad you did so. Your captures reminded me of a day in Oklahoma that I was chased out of a pond and 30ft up the river bank by one. I used my fishing pole to slow him but he would not give up and had me cornered. I would have rather let him go about his way but not wanting anything but a taste of me, my pop put him down. None to soon if I do say so myself. Never realized how fast they can chase you.

Hello Paul, I would rather be on land facing one of these than in the water fishing. Chasing you out of the water and up the bank is scary, my heart would have been racing from sheer horror.

[jprzybyla]

Joe,

What worries me about the last image is how quickly the snake disappears into the grass. Makes them a bit hard to avoid.

A very nice set of images.

I haven't got a long enough lens for the job I think it calls for about 1000mm?

Graham

Hello Graham, thank you for your comment. It does disappear into the grass, I cam close to stepping next to it. Fortunately I was watching where I stepped instead of walking and watching a bird. I shot these with my 55-300mm at the long end.

[jeeperman]

It was a bit scary no doubt. I was rather shocked that he was so aggressive that he kept coming even after several smacks of my pole. I was about 13 then. Luckily the ol'man carried his 44mag that day.

I guess it was a good thing I saw him when I did. I was about chest deep in a pond left under railroad tracks where most of the river had dried up. I was a bit pre-occupied as I had just had a Gar swim between my legs. lol

[jamn4ex]

Nce pics Joe please be safe . looks about thirty inches or so which means strike distance of thirty inches or so( another rule of thumb where one moccasin is , is many more) . We have rattlers around here they are quite larger but they usually give warning. I am a chicken I dont try to photograph them .