Cottonmouth

 

Cottonmouths, also called water moccasins, are venomous snakes found in the southeastern United States.

They're called cottonmouths because of the white coloration on the inside of their mouths, which they display when threatened.

Cottonmouths are semiaquatic, so they're comfortable both swimming in water (hence their other common name of water moccasin) and basking on land.

They are the only venomous snake in the U.S. that spends a lot of time in the water.

I observed this Cottonmouth, which I estimated to easily be six feet long, while hiking in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Florida. I watched it swim along the shoreline, it’s whole body visible from shore, hoping it would come my way.

When it finally came ashore it was not bothered by my presence at all and in fact snaked along my path directly towards me forcing me to move out of the way.