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Post by ree123 on Jun 19, 2012 1:16:56 GMT -6
There are some good ideas in here ! So,..... if I am unable to kill or catch this predator soon, who's coming over ?
I said it was all black, and I still think it was, but my partner @ work ask me if it was instead dark brown, like a water moccasin, so now I can't say for sure. But I did see it on land and not in the water. I haven't seen it in the water at all.
I also did not get a good look at it's head as it was running into the bushes when I encountered it, so I can't say if it had a poisonous triangle head or not.
Still a lot of maybe's, but I am sure it will appear again.
How often does a snake usually go on the prowl for food anyway ?
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 19, 2012 4:36:15 GMT -6
well just to ease some stress and I know some will say Nuh Uhhh I seen one. Its probably not a cotton mouth (aka Water Moccasin. They are only in certain parts of TN and mostly on the south west sections. There has never been a confirmed one east of the Buffalo River and even there they are on the southern portion and rare. We have 6 types of water snakes here. 4 of which look similar to cottonmouths but none of them are. I have heard stories of them through KY (impossible for them to live there)whitehouse,portland,Hendersonville, ect.. ect... All just stories.) AS Jon said it could also be a king snake. They tend to have some yellow mixed in aswell. If its solid black or charcoal looking its probably just a rat snake(also known as a black racer) Both them and kings will eat fish as well. There are sprays that are supposed to keep snakes away. Not sure how well they work but may be worth a shot.
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Post by tradewatertropical on Jun 19, 2012 8:51:34 GMT -6
Not trying to go against the grain here !!! But I live here in KY and have seen Cotten Mouths here all my life!We call them Tighteyes around here because of the evil look in their eyes !! They had to even shut the lake part of the Western Ky 4-H Camp here in Dawson Springs down for three years because of them. I did part time work out there for awhile and they were sending specialist down from the University of KY to collect a few specimans to study. They did come up with something to kill down the population so they could reopen the lake, but I know I wouldn't be letting my kids participate in that part of the camp !
A friend and I have been farming together for the past 25 years (just raising cattle) and always had to put up hay during the summer, which he still does but I am done due to health. But to make a long story short we were cutting hay in the tradewater bottoms (which you can see driving by on the W.KY Parkway) there were so many Tighteyes around and in the fields we gave the hay up to another fellow and I don't think he is cutting anymore either !! The first year we killed 11 with the disc mower alone that we seen. The largest part of one that we did pick up was 39 inches from the tip of its tail to the part to where the mower cut its head off. It's girth was as big around as my wrist and i am a nice size fellow. So we really don't know just how long it actually was. Needless to say that when you went from one tractor to another you really paid attention to where you were walking so we decided that patch wasn't not worth taking the chance and gave it up. So if anyone wants to see one or more come on up to KY , I can still take you down to those bottoms and can pretty well promise you will see one. All you really have to do is get close to some of them, they will come out to see you. They Don't Run !!!
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 20, 2012 5:12:27 GMT -6
sorry I meant to say though main KY. Not sure where in Ky you are. The cotton mouth mainly sticks to the western part of TN and reaches only the western tip of Ky and the eastern border of Indiana, However that far north they are very rare. and most sightings are usually a eastern banded watersnake. They have a broad diamond shaped head and slanted eyes. They are also some mean SOB's if cornered so they look venomous and will bite but wont do mush more than draw blood. They also get larger than cottonmouths which generally dont get that large. Also cottonmouths main diet is fish and crawfish. so they seldom venture more than a few yards from natural water sources.
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Post by tradewatertropical on Jun 20, 2012 7:31:58 GMT -6
I am about 30 miles north of Hopkinsville, KY , which would be western KY like you said. And also the bottoms where we killed so many that one year is right on the rivers edge so I guess really they wern't straying too far away from the water and the bottoms were full of crawfish holes so could be the reason they were out in the field !! The area to where we killed the biggest one , I could probably thrown a rock twice and hit the river so I guess he still wasn't too far away!! You are right about the water I have never really seen a cotton mouth (Tighteye) that wasn't at least near the water somewhere. The water snake you talk about , now that is what we call the Water Maccason and for sure are more common around. A good friend of mine outside of Princeton,KY found a good sized one in his pond earlier this year with a big belly. He killed it and cut it open to find a about a 4" koi !! He said the thought some of his fish were missing,but didn't know why so I believe he found his problem !! This is kinda gross, but when he cut the snake open to see what he had eaten the thing was full of these white worms !! And I mean lots of them !! Anyway he hasn't lost anymore fish lately !! LOL !!
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Post by kyangelsncorys on Jun 20, 2012 10:36:27 GMT -6
Rick i use to use one of the wire minnow traps that has the funnel in both ends to catch minnows when i first started fishing and i would get alot of snakes in the trap as well. you mite bait and set a trap up in your pond . if you decide to try this let me know and i will tell you how i use to do it.
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 20, 2012 15:34:30 GMT -6
Yea the eastern banded can get really big around but like I said other than being mean they are harmless. I have probably been bitten 100+ times by them. stings alittle but about like getting bit by any other snake their size. As for the cotton mouth. (usually called a water moccasin ) they are usually a drab grey in color. smaller yet still very robust for their length and also mean as hell.. However they wont really chase you thats just an urban legend. They are very curious and will come to check you out if its unfamiliar with you but will still keep its distance. Most bites by them are from people sitting on rocks or turning rocks or wood over that they are hiding under
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Post by ree123 on Jun 20, 2012 17:56:51 GMT -6
Still have not seen him/her again, but frogs remain silent to date.
I am still watching every day/night.
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 20, 2012 20:19:40 GMT -6
dump a bunch of crickets around the pond in the evening and see if that gets them singing
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Post by plecoman on Jun 20, 2012 20:46:14 GMT -6
The cotton mouths that are in Georgia are black Rick. A poisonious snake, if an adult, will be super fat in the middle. If the snake you saw was black and fat, WATCH OUT! I've got a shotgun if you need to use it. You may have to patch up the pond liner afterwards though. LOL........
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Post by kyangelsncorys on Jun 20, 2012 21:27:44 GMT -6
don`t shoot it , i can catch it even if its a cotton mouth and we can turn it loose or kill it and that way there is no damage to your liner
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 21, 2012 5:15:49 GMT -6
TN and Georgia and most of south east now has both eastern and western Cottonmouths.However only the western part of TN has them. They are all over GA. The western variant is really black. The Westerns are thought to have migrated from TEXAS overtimeAnyways here ya go heres the differences EAstern cotton mouth Attachments:
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 21, 2012 5:17:08 GMT -6
Now harmless banded watersnake (see the resemblance?) also its head isnt pointed in this pic but they can do it if frightened so will look even more like a cottonmouth. Attachments:
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 21, 2012 5:17:50 GMT -6
now a western cotton mouth these will sometimes look grey also. So a lot lighter in color. alot of that has to do with shed phase Attachments:
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Post by jtrotter77 on Jun 21, 2012 5:22:11 GMT -6
Now the common black rat snake that we have (most likely what you saw) Attachments:
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