here, in the Eastern swamps, the biggest danger is Water Moccasins.
But one can just move and they’ll leave you alone .
Reel it in fast and get,.
Fwiw, TX & LA Cottonmouths do NOT run FROM you but rather TOWARD you.= AGGRESSIVE describes them perfectly.
Worse than his venom, which is bad enough, is the raging infection that you WILL get from any bite & which is usually FAR worse. = Nearly HALF of all Water Moccasin bites are with little or no venom injected..
(’Ole Stump-tail is a CARRION EATER & I nearly died from the infection that I got at age 19, while gigging frogs, after a near venom-less bite on the back of my left hand by a little 2-footer, that was no more than 1.5 inches wide. = I spent SIX days in the county hospital & taking IV anti-biotics, followed by daily return visits for 15 days to the MD to assure that the medics had killed the systemic infection.= I ended up with an “rather odd-looking scar” from the bite/infection, too. = People invariably want to know if it’s a bullet wound. When I say “NO, it’s from a snakebite.”, they really ask questions.)
Btw, one of my classmates from the Texas Master Naturalist class, last Summer, STEPPED ON a 4-5 footer that was as big around as the calf of my leg but he did NOT get bitten.- Russ landed on the snake so close to its head that it could bite nothing but the sole of his heavy boot. One of our other classmates held the snake’s head motionless with a stick, while Russ quickly “exited stage left”.= LUCKY FELLOW is our RUSS!!!.
By the way, our rivers, sloughs, creeks & lakes have Cottonmouths AND numerous gators, too.
Yours, tmn78247