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This photograph depicted a dorsal oblique view of a western cottonmouth snake Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma. The cottonmouth snakes display a distinct two-tone coloration, the spade-like shaped head, a lateral positioning of the eyes, vertically elliptical pupils, cheek stripes, and loreal pits. All of the American copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes are members of the family viperidae. The western cottonmouth is the smallest, but most widely distributed cottonmouth subspecie. The dorsal body is patterned with 10 to 15 dark cross-bands similar to the other two subspecies, but often tends to darken at an early age. The top and sides of the snout are usually uniformly dark brown to black with no visible pattern except in juveniles. When visible, the upper side of the dark cheek stripe often lacks the contrasting light borders that are characteristic of the Florida and eastern subspecies (Gloyd and Connant, 1990).Created: 2005
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This 2008 photograph depicted a venomous Eastern cottonmouth snake (also see PHIL 8125), Agkistrodon p. piscivorus, as it was slithering through its moist Edisto, South Carolina environment. The Eastern cottonmouth is the largest member of its genus, which includes its copperhead cousin, Agkistrodon contortrix (PHIL 10841 through 10851).Created: 2008
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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
