I have been working with venomous snakes for years. Fixing to finally get around to having my captive venomous permit. I have never once seen a cotton mouth chase someone.. Just people who happened to be fleeing in the same direction as the snake!
Tony DC
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"Cave diving is deceptively simple."
Uh, Folks Water Moccasins WILL come after you. We have a lot of them all over Texas and I've had 2 get into my house here in Houston. If you encounter them in the water, a good spashing will nearly always make them turn away. I've swam with them at our lakehouse in North Texas all my life. You just sorta get used to keeping an eye out. Pushing a panicing girlfriend in the water would almost certainly make them run off and hide.
Steve Harbin
Richmond, TX
Sure, especially when they are cornered and people come after them with rocks and sticks for no reason, they only have one way out, between your feet.Originally Posted by Skorpiov
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
If you spend any time in Florida waters, sooner or later you will see them swimming on the surface of the water, & especially if the water is high. 'Cotton Mouths' tend to seek the warmer currents of the rivers & shy away from spring fed sources. I've seen huge fresh water eels {black with white stripes} emerge from ground ceilings into the actual caves that we dive in & are not to be concerned about. They are a amazing to watch as you hover above the moving silt floors in most hidden cave systems. You will rarely see them in the more popular recreational cave. The best advise is to look where you step or where you make your water entry. Stagnant summer spring heads are good places to see cotton mouths swimming across the head pools. Of more concern are gators in mating season { mid April thru August} & may be agressive. Gators shy away from clanky, metal laden cave divers, & i have never heard of a gator attacking a diver. Skin divers on the other hand {sans wet suit but in bathing suits, snorkles, fins, & mask on the other hand have been documented with being attacked. Keep that in mind. I do not think you will have any snake encounters down here lest you go looking for them. That is my obserbations of some 25 years of cave diving & open water as well. You should be looking for Tick nests though ! They are ugly to get into & are abundent everywhere especially around water ! Go dive & enjoy our state. Don't worry about all the rest of it. They ain't out to get you !
Jack
When I was at Madison Blue last month, someone said they saw a Copperhead in there.
Few days later I saw a "snake" in the entrance to Telford ...
I have no knowledge about snakes, that's probably why I don't like the idea of diving with them too much
Copperheads are rare for Florida. If you do see one in the state of Florida, it will more than likely be in the panhandle. Copperheads, generally, are found further north, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.
Most Copperheads in FL are misidentified as moccasins and those generally, about 99% of the time, are actualy a non-venomous common brown water snake.
Last edited by Line Squirrel; 03-17-2012 at 03:55 PM.
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
There are only two kinds of snakes, rattlesnakes and water moccasins. So if it doesn't make a rattling sound, it's a water moccasin.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Whoever said money can't buy love never bought a puppy.
Nope, only two kinds of snakes, good ones and bad ones. Guess what it takes to qualify as a good one?
A live one =)
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"Cave diving is deceptively simple."
Your quite right. Copperheads do not normally make their down to cave country area. You will often see them in GA, panhandle, etc. I can see why people often misidentify a water snake for cottonmouths, but not a copperhead.... Moral of the story is if you don't know snakes don't mess with them and they wont mess with you =)
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"Cave diving is deceptively simple."
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