Cottonmouth, Pics or it didn't happen

   

   I went to South Florida for the better part of two weeks with my friend Laurie. We did a lot of different things. I'm sure I'll have a dozen posts about the trip. Hopefully with info on what to do and how to improve on our trip. I'm starting my posts off with the one thing that got my heart racing-

 On our trip I saw a Water Moccasin on three consecutive days. I got photos of two of them. Before I go any further, Water Moccasins also go by another name, Cottonmouth. Both words are for the same species. It seems like many Northerners call them Water Moccasins, and down South it is a 50/50 split. Whichever term you use, it is the same species. I have been surprised to learn that many people I know don't know that. I prefer the term Cottonmouth, so that is what I'll be using from now on.

   The first snake I saw was the smallest but by far the scariest. Laurie and I were sitting around the tent after dark when I heard our next site over neighbor say "it's on the trail to the showers?". We walked within my view and I asked him if he was going to look at cool wildlife. He replied there was a Cottonmouth near the showers and he was going to move it. I asked if I could go with him. I followed him up to where the snake was. Sure enough, it was right out in the open fifteen feet from the shower entrance. We bent down to look at it and we could see it was finishing up eating a little Ribbon Snake.

    The Cottonmouth was only 15-18 inches.  My neighbor moved it off of the trail and into the brush so no one or the snake would get hurt. Also of note, he had talked to a park ranger and earlier that day a six foot Eastern Diamondback slithered through the campground. Needless to say, when I woke up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night I did not venture far from the tent. 

Snake 2

   The next day after being disappointed at Corkscrew by lack of, really any wildlife, we decided to go to Six Mile Slough. While we were there, a woman told us about a Cottonmouth down the boardwalk. She gave no directions at all but we went looking for it. While striking out looking for it, Laurie asked a worker if he had seen any snakes. He had seen the Cottonmouth and told us exactly where to go. I bolted to find it leaving poor Laurie in the dust. My heart started racing and my adrenaline was pumping. I was so excited. The snake was still exactly where the guy said it would be. It was ten feet off of the boardwalk sleeping all curled up. We watched it for twenty minutes.

Snake 3

The following day we took a very long ride to Stormwater Treatment Area 5/6. This place was kind of a bust for us also. On the way back to our campsite Laurie decided to stop at some random park with trails (I don't remember the name of it). We walked the trails through some pines to a sawgrass swamp. We didn't see anything other than a Common Yellowthroat Warbler and a Little Blue Heron. As we were walking back the way we came, in the corner of my eye I saw a snake crossing the path where two trails meet. Instantly we could see it was another Cottonmouth. The path was wide through the pines and I had plenty of room to view it. 

 

 I got down low and started firing shots with my camera. As it was approaching the other side of the trail I stood up and took two steps towards it, The snake stopped instantly. I kept taking photos of it. I got behind it and took photos from across the path from which it came. I took a step or two closer and the snake turned its head toward me and opened its mouth to show me its  cotton mouth. 

  This was a warning that I better back off. I did step back a couple feet and took some more photos. I love the fact the snake was basically saying "I don't want to fight you but if you come closer I won't back down". After it showed me it's mouth I went back to the other side of the T- intersection. We watched it for another minute or two admiring it's beauty, power, and temperament. We left it alone and it was still on the edge of the woods when we left. What an amazing experience. 

   
I posted these exciting parts of our vacation on Facebook. My son's mom, Crystal, responded with "Pics or it didn't happen". Hence the name of this post. More photos below