Meet the deadly moccasin snake

Commonly known as “cottonmouth”, moccasin snakes are very venomous and aggressive. They can be found along streams and lakes, mostly in the American Southeast. One of their excellent skills is the way they can camouflage themselves to capture prey, making it a high risk for humans. To learn more about the characteristics of the moccasin snake, check out the full article!

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Moccasin snake: what you need to know about it?

Belonging to the same family as the rattlesnake, the water moccasin is the only venomous snake present in North American waters. To add to this fact, it is also one of the deadliest. It is found near streams and lakes, being considered a semi-aquatic animal.

Their darker coloration and vertical pupils may be factors that help differentiate them from non-venomous snakes, which have rounded pupils. In addition, they have very wide bodies and can reach almost 2 meters in length.

Their diet is varied: they usually feed on birds, lizards, mammals, crocodiles and turtles. However, they also eat fish, frogs and even other snakes. For this reason, most of the time, they are camouflaged among stones, trunks and branches of trees that hover over the water courses.

The main danger of this snake, in addition to its excellent camouflage ability, is that it does not announce when it is about to attack. Therefore, you only notice when it has already captured the prey.

Why is your nickname “cottonmouth”?

This nickname comes from a defense habit of this snake. When feeling threatened or scared, she lifts her head and opens her mouth. In doing so, she displays the inside of her mouth, white as snow.

It is one of the most aggressive snakes and, instead of leaving a situation in which it feels threatened, it tends to move towards a person or animal, attacking it. Therefore, when walking through places that are usually their habitat, you need to be very careful.