Noxubee Wildlife Refuge

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Originally Posted by Reinz

What a fruitful evening! Thanks for sharing your photos.

I’m not very good at identifying colubrids and may be mistaken, but pics 4,5,7 look like a Copperhead to me. I don’t mean to be petty or unappreciative, just curious since you didn’t mention them.

Looking forward to to your next excursion.

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Those are cottonmouths. The difference isn't always easy to tell if you aren't looking in the right spot. The biggest giveaway for a cottonmouth is the dark stripe along/across the eye that copperheads lack. Copperheads also tend to have less "noise" in their banding, so at least in my area (TX) our copperheads would not have any of the extra spot markings.

Copperheads tend to be brighter with lighter background coloring than this also, less of a brown snake. Some areas, like where I am, they're quite vivid in the red/copper coloring.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reinz

What a fruitful evening! Thanks for sharing your photos.

I’m not very good at identifying colubrids and may be mistaken, but pics 4,5,7 look like a Copperhead to me. I don’t mean to be petty or unappreciative, just curious since you didn’t mention them.

Looking forward to to your next excursion.

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Yeah it was a younger adult cottonmouth. As they get older their pattern starts to diminish and they get darker. The dark band across their eyes is a pretty good way to distinguish between them and copperheads though


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Thank y’all for educating me on that, I didn’t know about the eye band. Like I said, I’m not good with colubrids.

And thank you JM for not being defensive! :)

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Thank y’all for educating me on that, I didn’t know about the eye band. Like I said, I’m not good with colubrids.

And thank you JM for not being defensive! :)

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No prob man! Much like these snakes, I’m only outwardly defensive when provoked hah! [emoji6]

And now to continue the educational aspect of this thread. cottonmouths, copperheads, rattlesnakes and such are actually part of the Viperidae family, not colubridae.

Colubridae family covers rat snakes, racers, kingsnakes, hognose, garter snakes, mud snakes, etc.

I believe the only other snake family here in Mississippi is Elapidae with only one representative, the Coral Snake.



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Originally Posted by Reinz

.... I didn’t know about the eye band. Like I said, I’m not good with colubrids...

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This is "Pick on Reinz Day"....:D Just remember, cottonmouths wear eye-liner. I didn't have the heart to mention the "colubrid" thing too...;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

This is "Pick on Reinz Day"....:D Just remember, cottonmouths wear eye-liner. I didn't have the heart to mention the "colubrid" thing too...;)

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Hahaha, whoops! Didn't see your post before mine. I forgot to bring up the colubrids also

I just thought it was cool info to share. I would have never been able to tell a common water snake vs cottonmouth without someone to point out the differences. I've never mixed up with copperheads since my area has such bright ones. (It would be similar to mixing up the red/orange of a corn snake with a wild type coloring Texas rat snake)

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

... I would have never been able to tell a common water snake vs cottonmouth without someone to point out the differences. I've never mixed up with copperheads since my area has such bright ones. (It would be similar to mixing up the red/orange of a corn snake with a wild type coloring Texas rat snake) ...

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And it's always harder in the field too...critters aren't usually posing while we check our field guide and when colors/markings are variable, it's confusing. We have all
these in my area too, but I'm not into field herping. Around here so many ppl panic & kill these hapless water snakes out of confusion. :( It takes practice, then the
differences stand out more easily. I think copperheads are so pretty...I was offered one many years ago in another state, but I didn't want to deal with making it legal
& had plenty on my plate already. And I wouldn't catch one now, just to have it...I've never been into taking from the wild anything that is doing fine & enjoying a "life".

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

And it's always harder in the field too...critters aren't usually posing while we check our field guide and when colors/markings are variable, it's confusing. We have all
these in my area too, but I'm not into field herping. Around here so many ppl panic & kill these hapless water snakes out of confusion. :( It takes practice, then the
differences stand out more easily. I think copperheads are so pretty...I was offered one many years ago in another state, but I didn't want to deal with making it legal
& had plenty on my plate already. And I wouldn't catch one now, just to have it...I've never been into taking from the wild anything that is doing fine & enjoying a "life".

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It was really good to know water snake vs cottonmouth since we happened to have a water snake pop up in the back yard a few weeks ago. Young adult, about 2 ft long and thick. Clearly had a meal out of the toads we usually have hiding under our downspout drip pans. (Found snake, then proceeded to not see the toads any longer) "He" slithered off pretty quick after we got some pictures.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...051abc0afe.jpg

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I love toads & frogs, but I wouldn't begrudge a meal to a snake...:snake:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

This is "Pick on Reinz Day"....:D Just remember, cottonmouths wear eye-liner. I didn't have the heart to mention the "colubrid" thing too...;)

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That’s ok, whip me like a rented mule! Sometimes that’s what it takes for me to learn.

Thanks for your your teaching and patience.