Originally Posted by
Bruce Breedlove
Is that copperhead wiring?
we call those poisonous critters
Cottonmouths
Agkistrodon piscivorous
The Latin name piscivorous means 'fish eating,' indicating its dietary characteristics. Also known as 'water moccasins', only one recognized subspecies is found in Texas; Western cottonmouth (A.p. leucostoma). Cottonmouths can be dark brown, olive-brown, olive green or almost solid black. They are marked with wide, dark bands, which are more distinct in some individuals than in others. Juvenile snakes are more brilliantly marked. The cottonmouth gets its name from the white tissue inside its mouth, which it displays when threatened. This heavy-bodied snake, which averages about 3-1/2 feet in length, is found over the eastern half of the state in swamps and sluggish waterways, coastal marshes, rivers, ponds and streams.
