This 2005 photograph depicted an eastern cottonmouth snake, Agkistrodon p. piscivorus, as it was coiled atop a ground cover of pine needles. Startled, this snake had taken on a defensive posture, bearing its fangs in a very aggressive manner.

When one thinks about snakes indigenous to the hurricane prone areas in the southeastern United States, the cottonmouths or water moccasins are probably the first snakes to come to mind, which is of importance to those who either live in these regions, or who might be deployed to such areas as a first-responder offering aid to those affected by such a disaster. The cottonmouths are large, dark, heavy-bodied snakes, and are the largest snakes in the New World Agkistrodon species complex, and are the only members of the group that are semiaquatic (Gloyd and Conant, 1990).
Created: 2005