Large amount of water moccasins

I was swimming in the creek behind my house when a I decided to sit on a fallen log like a moron, I look over and about 7 feet away from my is a big fat angry-looking water moccosin, because I was in the water I didn't have a camera with me but that's not why I've made this thread
I live next to a creek and there are water moccasins all around here, I keep the grass trimmed down because I've come across them in my yard and I have my 3 year old brother in law that love to play around in the yard.

My goal is not to kill them, but understand their habits, when they like to bask areas they like to hang around, ect so my family can be safe around them and avoid coming across them.

So far I have told everyone that if you come across one, don't poke it with a stick or Steve Irwin-it and just leave it alone.
I've been told they have a nasty temper.

My family want to hire someone to kill them, which not only makes me sick to my stomach but doesn't make any sense since more will just show up from traveling in the creek.

Their aggressiveness is usually over exaggerated they flee/stand their ground about 50/50 (Different species are different though).

When it's a cool morning they usually bask in the sort of places you would expect, rocks, logs etc. And when it's hotter out they hang out in the shade.

If you keep a close eye on the kid and try to teach him that the snakes that you keep (if you have any) may be nice, but the ones out there shouldn't be touched and he should tell someone if he finds one you should be okay. If you can keep him away from tall grass and other places where he might not be able to see one before it strikes that would be good as well.

Deaths are rare as a result of a bite when treated, with the young, old and sick at the most risk. And you didn't meantion, how many is a "large amount"?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/7...c95dbdc3_c.jpg

They are not all bad tempered. . . as said above, they generally flee and rarely stand and fight. Temperature plays a big part of that. The colder a snake is, the more likely it is to stand and defend itself which is usually just the typical display . . .

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4033/4...6802de7f_z.jpg

Just make sure you let people know how to tell who's who, and appreciated from a safe distance as you seem to be. These guys are invaluable to our ecosystem!

Cheers

It's already been pretty much covered. but I will add that although in my experience the "agressive" attitude often associated with cotton mouths is over exaggerated, that all agkistrodon's I have ever worked with are among the most unpredictable snakes I have any experience with. And to say that free handling one is a very bad idea! is putting it very mildly. Generally if you just continue to keep your property well groomed and free of clutter and make sure everyone exercises caution when in the yard you shouldn't have any problems.

Is it just me, or is that photo with a person handling a moccasin look to be a very poorly done photo shop job? The snake looks fake; there are no shadows; the lines between the snake and the handler, snake and surrounding vegetation, and the handler and vegetation are way too sharp. I showed the pic to my wife, who is very proficient with photo shop, and she agrees - the pic is fake.

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Originally Posted by bowshooter52ga

Is it just me, or is that photo with a person handling a moccasin look to be a very poorly done photo shop job? The snake looks fake; there are no shadows; the lines between the snake and the handler, snake and surrounding vegetation, and the handler and vegetation are way too sharp. I showed the pic to my wife, who is very proficient with photo shop, and she agrees - the pic is fake.

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It is just you.
Look at all the other shadows, they all follow the same plane of light and also maintain sharp edges.
Also, after taking enough photos myself and working with light you find that you can get sharp shadows, soft shadows and even coloured shadows depending on your light sources.

If you want a poorly done PhotoShop of a snake look up the "700LB Anaconda from Iraq" as if the title wasn't enough of a tip-off that it is a fake.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bowshooter52ga

Is it just me, or is that photo with a person handling a moccasin look to be a very poorly done photo shop job? The snake looks fake; there are no shadows; the lines between the snake and the handler, snake and surrounding vegetation, and the handler and vegetation are way too sharp. I showed the pic to my wife, who is very proficient with photo shop, and she agrees - the pic is fake.

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X2 It's definitely you guys. This photo is obviously real, all the shadows line up if you pay any attention, really... And I'd trust all information or photographs coming from reptile experts any day of the week.

Zoom in. The shadows are there. Cool to know about these animals.

This may be a silly question, but since I don't know your personal experience with snakes, I have to ask, are you sure it was a water moccasin? I know in my area, one is much more likely to see a watersnake than a cottonmouth, yet people kill them all the time and claim it was a cottonmouth.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bowshooter52ga

Is it just me, or is that photo with a person handling a moccasin look to be a very poorly done photo shop job? The snake looks fake; there are no shadows; the lines between the snake and the handler, snake and surrounding vegetation, and the handler and vegetation are way too sharp. I showed the pic to my wife, who is very proficient with photo shop, and she agrees - the pic is fake.

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What motivation do you feel he would have to do that? It's called high definition. It's what the kids are doing these days with the cellular telephones and the personal computers and stuff and their new age internet-film tape.