Advice on Water Snakes

[Matth2083]

Hey guys..Ive been meaning to mention this for a while..but just recently its gotten me a little spooked. Last time I was out on the lake I was bank fishing and had a few close encounters. We fish on the bank and try to stay as quiet as possible, but It seems to be only about every 10-15 minutes where a snake just cruises right in front of our spot. One or two a night is fine, but one every 10 minutes keeps me a little on edge. I dont figure they'll bother me unless I provoke em. But still wondering if there's any lake snake knowledge out there to either stay safe or just keep em the heck away.

[Gator]

Matt I am not sure where other than NC your at but 9 out of 10 time what you are seeing is a blotched or banded water snake if it is in the water and it is hanging around to eat the small fish drawn to the light. Up there you also have a Crawford water snake as well. None of these will hurt you unless you trip all over your self running from them…. LOL They are harmless. Now if a thick bodied black or brown snake with a neck much smaller that it head and body comes around then you have a little something to get worried about , that would be a moccasin or copper head, those can deliver a very bad bite and cause a lot of pain. There is not much you can do to keep them out of your fishing spot other than keep the area clean so you can see them coming. You will heard about moth ball and horse hair rope and such but a snake does not smell like we do nor does it have ears so noise and stinky stuff don’t work well to keep them away. Just remember most people are bitten trying to kill or catch a snake just leave them along and they will leave you along for the most part.

[bluecatnut]

matt water snakes r harmless like gator said. the olny sure fire way to keep them out of your fishing spot is to make vibration but in doing so u'll more then likely scare off the fish..

another thing you could kill the snake and use it for cat fish bait it workd pretty good just cut ut up like you would anyother cut bait

DUSTY
U.S.M.C. ALUMNI

COURAGE = DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN NO ONE IS LOOKING

[jim]

Personally I'm only scared of two kinds of snakes.The BIG ones and the LITTLE ones.Leave them alone and they will do likewise for the most part.The one thing that no snake can stand is gasoline NOT that I recommend sitting next to the campfire with a cupful of gas at the ready.

[capt.kirk]

chances are as long as you can see them they arent going to bother you
probably drawn by the light.BUT if you start getting a strong smell like
cucumbers you are to close to copperheads. :eek:
KIRK

[Kittyhunter]

There is only one good kind of snake in my book. Dead ones. If I had that many coming by where I was fishing, I'd have to stop fishing there. LOL

[Gator]

Snake have many great use’s such as rodent control. They are great at keeping en-laws and other unwanted pest out of your house just keep one in the living room…… LOL

[Mathersm]

I live up near the great lakes. Me and my bro go fish erie 1 or 2 times a year. I'm not one that is scared of snakes at all. I usually try and catch them.1 time last year while fishing in the marinas I seen the most amount of water snakes i thought possible. They were everywhere sunning themselves in tree branches on rocks on peoples boats and docks. We even seen many a bilge pump hole with 3 or 4 snake heads sticking out. We'd be fishing and every 2 minutes or so we would have to swat them in the water to keep them from trying to climb in our boat. That was one of the most freaky things I have ever seen. Most snakes are more scared of us than we are with them. As long as you don't provoke them they will leave you alone.

[janzaldo]

I heard, water moccasins are very aggressive.

Jaime

[RiverratSC]

Water snake are harmless and it takes a fool to bother them. If you harm these poor ceatures may lions feed on your heart. Ok may thats a bit much but still they won't bother you.

[JAYNC]

I know the snakes here in NC will drop from trees into your boat if your not carefull, and they just dont sit still when they land in there. Ask Mark J he said he had a lot of .45 holes in his boat when one fell out of a tree. It depends what kind of snakes they are, I would reccommend getting a book that can identify what kind it is, and if its a deadly one you need to find somewhere else to fish.

[badkarma]

Water shakes are harmless? BULL HOCKY!!! Where I come from 9 out 10 water snakes is a cotton mouth moccasin and they are NOT harmless.They can and will bite while under water and anyone who wants to take the chance of under estimateing how dangerious they are needs to carry some snake bite antivenom with them.

[lonegunman88240]

here in southeast new mexico, on the pecos theres bizillions usually red ones and green ones i think i saw some yellow ones, i'll watch them feed on minnows while i wade and fish, they are harmless i suppose, meaning the poisonous snakes here are easy to identify, various rattle snakes (triangular heads) and coral snakes, no copperheads or moccisans here, but alot of people dont realize is rattlesnakes swim too!!!!! gotta watch for them,

[JAYNC]

I was down at lock 2 at the cape fear about a month ago and while I was driving by the front of the ramp I look at the water and there was about a 5 1/2-6' water moccasin swimming right at the boat. Ever since then I have a 2 1/2' machette in the boat just in case one ever came aboard and tried to claim the boat as his. Those things are extremely dangerous. I soppose if you leave them alone and stay away from them its fine but those kind of snakes ARE aggressive and they WILL come after you, so watch out.

[JAYNC]

This is right out of an encyclopedia,

water moccasin or cottonmouth, highly venomous snake , Ancistrodon piscivorus, of the swamps and bayous of the S United States. Like the closely related copperhead, it is a pit viper and has a heat-sensitive organ for detecting warm-blooded prey. The young are born live. The young snake is a pale reddish brown with transverse dark brown bands edged with white; as it ages the colors dull to a blotched olive or brown and then to an unmarked olive or blackish in old specimens. The maximum length is 6 ft (2 m), the average from 3 to 4 ft (90-120 cm). A good climber, the water moccasin often relaxes on branches overhanging the water. If startled it erects its head and shows the white interior of its mouth—hence the name cottonmouth. It eats both warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. It is aggressive in the wild state but may become quite tame in captivity. It is classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Squamata, family Crotalidae.

[Cataholic]

A Water Moccasin doesn't bother me so much as a Copperhead due to the fact that they seem to be less aggresive. The Copperhead will come after you if aggitated and once it bites you it will keep on biting you until you quit wiggling! A very aggresive critter that usually don't get much longer than 2 feet long in these parts, but it will kill you if given the oppourtunity. I've seen folks loose body parts due to their bite, Then again I've seen folks walk on water trying to avoid them!

[willisjj]

I agree with Joe, although I really don't like those cottonmouths either. We always had to watch out for em while fishing as they would be hanging in Willow trees and scare the heck out of you. You would be busy fishing and happen to turn your head and there it would be about a foot or two away. Never got bit though and those copperheads scare me more than the moccasins, especially the little ones.

[Cataholic]

Jeremy,
Those little ones you are talking about are the most dangerous! What's more scarey than a Copperhead? I'll tell ya it's when the kids are pokin' their rod tips at their heads sticking up out of the water! That would ruin any perfect trip quickly...
The most dangerous snake is the... Ready for this! CopperheadedRattleMoccasin! Now that's a critter! :D

[Matth2083]

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys..that was a lot of responses quick. I guess I just need to depend on my knowledge of which snakes are in my specific area as well as minding my own business and just focusing on fishing. However, I think I should def. invest in a mechete. Cant hurt right. Oh yeah, I might skip trying to kill em and use for cutbait bluecatnut,I think you got more nerve than me in the middle of the night. but good to know the cats will still hit it. Thanks guys.

[badkarma]

Matt I was catfishin' one night on a small river close to my home and had a good stringer full when I let the end of the stringer slip from my hand.I was standing on the bank watching my stringer full of cats go down stream.Where I was fishing the river wasn't but 2 1/2 feet deep so I grabed my coleman lantern and jumped in.I was about to catch up with the stringer when a cotton mouth serficed between me and the stringer and it didn't take me long to make up my mind on what to do,I let that snake have the river and the stringer and picked up my gear and went home :eek: .

[fish]

I agree that a copperhead is more aggressive than a cotton jaws. You usually have to make a cottonmouth mad, but you don't have to try hard. A copperhead keeps his hammer cocked all the time.

Poisonous snakes will swim on top of the water where a water snake will swim under water. A poisonous snake will dive under and stay for a good long time, but most times it will swim on the top of the water when he is traveling; and snakes will bite underwater. :eek:

[olefin]

Click here (http://www.snakesofarkansas.com/galleries/thumbnails.php?album=2) for some excellent pictures of AR cottonmouths and copperheads.
Click on thumbnails for full size.
I noticed one person said they kept a cottonmouth for 2 weeks then released it? Myself, I kill poisonous snakes...

[Catcaller]

Here in southeastern Kansas we have lots of copperheads and a few water moccasins and timber rattlers too. There's a couple of species of water snake that looks just like a water moccasin except for it doesn't have the pits beneath its eyes and it has a pointy tail instead of a stubby one like all pit vipers do. They will chase you too...hoping you'll think it's a poisonous variety and run away from it. A lot of people mistake them for water moccasins. I'm not real snakey...as long as I can see them. I hate it when the sneaky little suckers will just come out of nowhere right under your feet...or even worse...I'll be wade fishing in hip deep water and a snake is swimming directly for me on top of the water, and then dives ten feet before it gets to me. I don't care for that feeling...Lol.

[wolfman]

Well if the snakes are swimming by every 10 minutes or so, there must not be any flatheads in the area,lol. jk. I usually just let them be if they are not causing any harm.

[fwmud]

The only snake i can't stand is the one I can't see,only hear. Now thats scarey!
Oh cataholic the term is
"rattletrap cottenhead" hehe
heard those before :D

[three_rivers]

The thread talks of water snakes. Some of them are harmless like the brown water snake. For the most part they want no part of you and are more scared of you than you are of them.

Good rule of thumb, if he aient bothering me, i'm sure not gonna bother him!

[Catcaller]

Danny, one time when my cousin and I were running trotlines at night time on the Neosho river we had a fish on this one line that was tied to a branch on a large willow tree. We were all up in the tree getting the fish untangledn and we both heard a "Thump" in the back of the boat. We both turned around and looked...and there was a snake about 4 feet long headed for the front of the boat. There was a pause that couldn't have been more than a second or two...but seemed like an eternity...as we both stared at the snake and tried like hell to convince ourselves that there really wasn't a snake that big in the boat with us. My cousin didn't even miss a beat...."Splash!" He jumped over the side of the boat into the river and started wading to the bank. I looked at him...and yelled..."Oh No You Didn't!....You SUCK!!!" He also had the flashlite. I got on top of my swiveling seat, and grabbed the other flashlite from the top of my tacklebox, and turned it on...and there the damn thing was....right beneath my seat. My cousin is rolling on the river bank laughing so hard that he's crying. At this point I still had no idea what kind of snake it was...so I jumped off the seat into the back of the boat. I grabbed the paddle and broke the snakes neck with one quick jab. And then picked it up and threw it at my cousin. It was just a big water snake...but it picked the wrong boat for a cruise. I guess we were just lucky my cousin didn't think to grab the 12 gauge laying on the floor of the boat instead of jumping overboard.

[Catcaller]

Another time there was this one guy that doesn't fish very much from work that I took wade fishing in the Neosho river with me one spring morning. We got there at daylight, and had a nice stringer of channel cats to take home and clean. There was this great big log laying at the waters edge. We both climbed up on top of it and started fishing. We sat there for an hour and caught a few more nice channel...when all of a sudden my fishing partner got up and started heading back up the steep bank. I asked him where he was going. He said there's a snake on that log. I looked down, and sure enough...there layed a copperhead all coiled up. Less than a foot away from where he had been sitting. Then it dawned on me...he got up and didn't even tell me there was a copperhead not even 3 feet away from me! I grabbed my stuff and waded back out in the river and started fishing again...leaving all his stuff up there with the snake...Lol. He eventually went and got his stuff and got back in the river...but I bet it took him 20 minutes to get the nerve up to get back up on the topside of that log.

[jim]

One evening a friend and I were tied up to the grates in front of the intakes of the dam on Lake Travis in Texas.We were fishing for white bass and crappie with lanterns over the side.A big rattlesnake came swimming into the light and my friend decided he was going to end the threat.He grabbed a paddle we had in the boat and took a mighty overhead swing when the snake came in range.Of course the snake rapped intself around the paddle and my friend in total surprise reared back with it and promptly dropped about four feet of very angry rattler in the boat with us.Two of the three occupants of the boat immediately decided someplace else was a good place to be and we scrambled up the grates like monkeys.Well we were hanging on for dear life and the snake decided he had aquired a mighty nice fishing boat for a good price and decided to rest up a while.After about two hours he decided to explore a little bit and wiggled back by the gas tank which smelled real bad and he went over the side finally.I was sure happy because my hands were raw from hanging on to the rusty grate all the time and I had intertwined my legs as best I could but sitting on rebar had caused my legs to go to sleep and it was a painful awakening.I had amused myself for two hours by inventing new curse words and doing a long social commentary of my friends ancestory and family.I learned right thereto leave them alone and I was glad we didnt have any type of firearm on the boat because he probably would have shot a hole in the bottom and sank the boat.That wasnt the last time I saw a rattler swimming but it is the most memorable.

[Matth2083]

yeah guys...fortuneately I dont have a good snake story...and actually..I dont care for one. I think that when I see that big diamond shaped head Im gonna lay low and hope for the best....just one question left. what do you reccomend...when I catfish, I go for silence for. but I notice loud sounds def. scare the snakes, but I just hope not to irritate them..do the sounds send them astray?? or keep them around to investigate? Sorry.. As much as I love the outdoors snakes are one thing that keep me on my toes...literaly.

[Tinboat]

I've found that a .357 mag loaded with shot charges will make a sufficiently loud noise and usually make a snake go away.

[greggofish]

I am one of the folks that actually likes seeing snakes. I also have enough sense to not try to talk about em much on an open forum due to the fact people are gonna think what they want regardless of whats fact or fiction. Having said that, bookmark this site:

http://www.herpsofnc.org/herps_of_NC/snakes/snakes.html


If you have a question about types of snakes in NC, there you will find the answer. If you have a specific question, I'll be glad to help out. I have spent a lot of time collecting, photographing and learning about the snakes of NC.

[Catcaller]

If a snake is trying to come after me or is in my boat and I have something (anything) to kill it with...I won't hesitate to kill it. But if it's just sitting there or is just swimming by, I'll leave it alone. A poisonous snake is very distinctive in its features, and isn't difficult to identify in proper conditions. But seeing as how I fish in the dark as much as I fish in the daylight hours...theres been more than one snake that got too close to us one too many times and got shot with the 12 gauge snake tenderizer that we normally pack along with us when we go catfishing at night.

[Tarpon]

Its always seemed to me that cotton mouths are a lot meaner than a copperhead when theyre in the water. But on land I think the copperhead is meaner. I know a couple guys that've had moccasins fall into their boat outta trees and heard of moccasins comin up canoe paddles. One Night i had a big ol cotton mouth climb into my boat over the engine mount. Ended that with a quick swing of a paddle. The snakes that really get me though are the Timber rattlers that live around the uwharrie mountains (Tuckertown and Baden Lakes).

[Jamesaveryfwb]

Am I afraid of snakes? :eek:
.410 in the boat and a box of shells.
I also keep a lonnnnnnnng handled boat paddle.
James Avery
:0a23:
:0a33: If I offend anyone with my killing of snakes....I ain't sorry, I be fraid of'm all!

[C_wernett]

The only to be afraid of when encountering a snake fishing is this...what stupid thing the human mind can think of when the encounter occures. I've been studying and keeping and breeding snakes for the better part of ten years now. I'm an animal enthusiast, through and through. For isntance, there are three or four types of watersnakes here in NC, depending on where you are precisely located in the state. All belong to the genus Nerodia. The three most common being Nerodia erythrogaster(redbellied watersnake), n. fasciata(banded watersnake), and n.taxispolata(brown watersnake). Bandeds are the smallest of the tree maxing out at 4' in length and the other two having been know to get up to nearly 6', making them even longer than your "average" watermoccasin. All three tend to be aggresive when approached, but as with all snakes, prefer to strike only as a last defense, or when approached. In the 7 years I've been studying the herptofauna of this state, and all the snakes I've encountered on the water, less than 10% were venomous species, Agkistodon piscivorus(cottonmouth), or A. controtix(copperhead). In fact, in seven years, I've encountered three...yes, three cottonmouths. Now, I've encountered quite a few copperheads, but very few were located while fishing, or for that matter within 100 yds of water. Being sort of a "local expert", I've been broughten more than my share of cornsnakes, hognose snakes, bandeds, redbellies, and a few browns...and by a few I mean probably hundreds, that people KNEW were venomous ones of these two species. Not to say encounters don't happen, some people are probably more unlucky at encountering cottonmouths and copperheads(which is probably why they catch more fish than me!), but you really have to know your snakes to know what you are dealing with in a situation where the snake is moving, and adrenaline is kicking in. By far the best advice is to just leave them alone...now, should a snake drop in your boat, please don't do like several people I've heard of and sink your boat with shotgun blast, or shoot your buddy in the leg...trying to kill a snake that ended up slithering off unharmed anyway. By the way, in such a situation, whom was more dangerous to us, the snake, or ourselves??? Ok...I'm through rambling...now let me try to figure out how to cat a few more catfish!!! :D

[Catcaller]

Good point. Definately in the situations I've seen...the snake wasn't nearly as dangerous as the attempts to escape or kill the snake were. I am not nearly as snakey as some are...as long as I see them first or they don't seem interested in me...we have no problem. I've killed a few snakes in the past...some because they tried to occupy the same space I did...which is physically impossible due to the laws of imment domain(Providing I'm properly armed)...but most run ins were more to appease my wife or one of my daughters...who have a HUGE issue with a snake that wants into the fishbasket that's right at our feet or into the cooler we keep our perch in. I'm not as tolerant of snakes as you seem to be Wernett...but I don't go completely nuts when I'm close to one like I have seen people do...and I definately don't go looking for trouble when I see one thats seems intent on leaving me alone. I too believe that many snake encounters described as poisonous ones could be false sightings. I know what a pit viper looks like...and I have seen very few except Copperheads...(which are common in these parts)...in the field. Cottonmouths and Timber Rattlers are present...but rare.

[gadzooks]

Cottonmouths carry their head higher above water than ordinary water snakes. While aggressive if bothered, they don't come after something as big as a man without provocation. Of course, any snake is pretty damn dumb and it may seem that you are doing nothing to provoke the snake, but it may decide otherwise. As for carrying a gun in a boat to kill snakes, them bullets make nice little holes in the boat, or, in the case of a 357, good size holes.

Used to wade fish for bass and bluegills a lot in a swampy area and got to watch cottonmouths and water snakes mate in the spring. Very romantic.

[Catcaller]

As for carrying a gun in a boat to kill snakes, them bullets make nice little holes in the boat, or, in the case of a 357, good size holes.
One should always remember that ALL snakes do not slither...some have two legs and two arms. There's some real wackos out there these days...it don't hurt to be prepared when you're out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night fishing....perhaps alone...perhaps when you have your kids with you. I'd rather be packing and not need it than not packing and need it.

[C_wernett]

Yeah, that's a more logical reason to arm yourself! I was out on the water this weekend, catfishing of course, and watched some rather "careless" behavior, as another boat that was anchored up not far away decided to go speeding through some rather rough, shallow/stumpy, waters. Now if you know the waters, that's good...but these guys were putting away some frosty beverage, and by their volume, were getting quite "good" so-to-say. I was surprised not to see a tradedy that day. Now..I don't know about you, but that worries me much more than a measley reptile.

[olefin]

As for carrying a gun in a boat to kill snakes, them bullets make nice little holes in the boat, or, in the case of a 357, good size holes.


Use a 22 loaded with shot, easier on the boat. :D

[catfishcentral]

Did you know that about 90% of all snake bites are self inflicted. Your reading this and saying how can they be self inflicted? Well 90% of all those snake bites are on a person's hand. People are reaching out to pick up a snake. Most snakes want nothing to do with you and only will strike if you threathen them.

[Catcaller]

The bad part is that a snakes idea of "threatening" them and mine aren't always the same...Lol. I have never been bit...but a buddy of mine did get bitten by an unidentified non poisonous snake while wade fishing. The snake was headed towards him and submerged right before it got to him...and he got bitten underwater while attempting to walk on water. He swears it was a water moccasin...but there were no fang marks where he got bit. I suppose it could have simply grazed his leg and didn't manage to inject any venom...as there was a scratch there on his thigh. That does happen...But I tend to doubt that it was anything but a water snake. But seeing as how he's 6' 3" and 240 lb...and knows how to use it...I won't be the one that calls him a liar.

[catfishcentral]

I've been bitten a few dozen times non poisonous only. I was a snake freak when I was young... wanted to grow up and be a herpetologist. All of those times out looking for snakes and catching them, the only time ever got bite was on the hand. My mother would get pi$$ed when they got loose in the house. There are several water snakes that do have very similar markings to a water moccasin. When you see them in the water coming toward you there are not coming to attack, but just haven't seen you yet. Step out of their way and you'll be fine. Many Non-Poisonous water snakes do carry a anti- coagulate in thier saliva. These makes your bite marks bleed longer than normal. I speak from experience.LOL