A cottonmouth snake can hold its mouth open for 50 min

Got bit by the old true or false question. Better than by the snake.

Oh yes! I let my wife and the Springer Spaniel out on the dock while I tied up the boat. She's walking up the walkway and screamed snake.I grabbed my Ruger .22 snake pistol out of the tackle box and went running in time to see the dog flip the snake in the air. It hit the ground trying to get away and I unloaded on it, but with small caliber bullets it kept on moving to a large bush. The dog saw it and ran in front of the wife to protect her and it was coiled ready to strike. Later that night she reached down on the floor to pet him and he whimper at her touch. His head and muzzle were so swollen so we drove him 30 mins. to the vet. The two fang marks measured 1 inch apart which is a large moccasin! They don't get that long, but beefy and powerful, about the size of my upper arm near the shoulder. The first moccasin our family has ever seen or encountered at our place at KY Lake. That is, near the house. He was as the old proverbial saying, sick as a dog for 4 or so days and always drooled out that side of his mouth. He got his own steak a couple of months later. Miss that protective dog.

Who has been timing cottonmouths 🤔

In Australia, snakes are a protected species, you are not allowed to kill them. If I see a snake, I run the other way, they scare me.

Great question but I have a phobia of snakes so I wish they wouldn't show the pictures of them. I can't touch the screen to scroll past it so I barely touch the edge of the pic to scroll past it. That's how terrified I am of snakes! I had several bad encounters with snakes at a very young age so I think that's why I developed this phobia. The first encounter was when I was just 3 1/2. We were staying at our Grandparent's summer home in the country. Myself & my 2 older sisters slept in the same bedroom in different beds. I woke up in the middle of the night because I felt something touching me. I thought my older sister who was afraid to sleep by herself had crawled in bed with me but when I looked no one was there so I threw back the covers & there was a huge "chicken snake" cuddled up to me. I threw the covers back over it & lept from my bed to my sister's bed across the room without touching the floor. I was screaming so my sisters woke up & screamed too. My Grandfather was out fox hunting so my Grandmother came running yelling "What is it?" I told her that there was a snake in my bed, she thought I had a bad dream until my sister saw the bed covers move. When Gram pulled the covers back, she nearly died. There was another couple staying there as well & that woman wasn't afraid of ANYTHING. She dragged the snake threw the house by the tail to the front porch. She had it by the tail so she swung it around above her head and then slammed it into the porch post until she broke it's neck. When the guys got back from fox hunting at dawn she took them out & showed them the dead snake. She said that they neither one was going to sleep until they figured out how such a large snake got into the house. (My Grandfather measured the snake & it was 6'7") Turns out there was a slit in the screen in our bedroom that no one had noticed & the snake squeezed threw it. It was Summer but it turned cold that night & it was just trying to get warm. That's when my phobia started. After that I have been bitten 4 times by non-venomous snakes in freakish circumstances & once I sat on the toilet to tinkle, felt something touch my hoo ha, jumped up & there was a water moccasin in the toilet. Thank God it didn't bite me because they are venomous! That would have been an embarrassing trip to the ER. Sorry, end of rant but now you know why I'm TERRIFIED of snakes.

Almost dropped the phone

Lynne Zeman, Generally speaking, what you say is true - but cottonmouths are different. They are very territorial and certain times of the year they will aggressively come after you. A four or five foot cottonmouth can be as big around as your leg and swimming right at you is not pretty! If you don't leave it Very Much intends to bite you, and they CAN BITE UNDERWATER. My ex-husband was bitten on the ankle, knee deep in a swift running shoal in the river.

They taste like chicken

Lived in Atascocita, TX along the Houston Lake. Man, they were everywhere! If you see a big, really thick snake with its mouth closed and you are wondering if it is or is not, they have a yellow streak from the outer corner of its eye and big block heads. You'll know. They can also "dry bite" you and not give up their venom. They didn't chase me, but I didn't give them reason to either.

I HATE ALL SNAKES!!

David L. Maxey, I once saw a gun called " The snake charmer" It was a shortened 410 single shot shotgun designed for fishermen to carry along in their boats. Loaded with birdshot it'd be deadly on snakes.

A majority of snakes are shy and will not strike unless they feel they have no other choice. Their undeserved reputation causes panic in to many people. And that panic causes most of the bad outcomes for either/or both parties.

I'm not waiting around to time it,

I see them a lot. I am more worried about copperheads (we call them high land maccasines) because I am always wary around water.

In Oklahoma we are taught to immediately get away from a snake. We have Rattlesnakes, Water Moccasins, and Cotton Mouths. Do not stay long enough to see how long their mouth is open!!!

Most snakes in the US will avoid you if given the chance, you get bit when you get so close they feel threatened. I’ve been told by a state biologist that with the coral snake, you just about have to put your hand in its mouth to get bit. On the other hand snakes in South America (the Fer De Lance) and Africa ( the Mamba's, green and black) are extremely aggressive. My hobby growing up was catching snakes of all kinds and I accompanied a KY State Biologist, Howard Stevens on several trips. Usually had several around the house.

We in the UK don't have venomous snakes though we have an adder but it's bite isn't venomous and you won't die from it's bite,it's like an irritant.