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Cottonmouths (DUW)

Daenerys

Daenerys

Mother of Dragons
So Thursday and Friday I was in the NC Sandhills catching cottonmouths with Brandon (Snakewhisperer) and friends. We saw a total of 12 and caught 10 of them for photoshoots! Pictures:

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(tail wag AND gaping!)

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Kevlar gloves and snaggletooth

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This one was nice :p
 
Very nice pictures they make me a bit jealous since the only thing I have found in this area is a couple Garters and the usual plethora of Salamanders.
 
It was quite nerve wracking going out and catching all these guys. There were four of us wading down a creek, and we had two hooks and two pairs of tongs to catch them with as well as 6 pillow cases to put them in. Getting angry cottonmouths into a pillowcase when they are determined to evade capture is rather difficult. We had to use the hooks and one of the tongs to hold it open while the other person with the tongs dropped the snake in, and then tongs were used to clamp it shut and someone tied a knot in the top. Not as easy as it sounds. There were a couple of times when I was afraid the snake was going to wiggle out of the tongs grip....I was sweating a lot, and not because it was a sunny 85 degrees outside.

But all was accomplished without incident. A couple of the snakes bit themselves or broke a fang attempting to get out of the pillowcases but they'll be alright, fangs grow back and cuts heal. All were released back into the creek after we took pictures and got measurements.

Oh, and I used a telephoto lens to take these pictures. No way I'd get any closer than that to them XD
 
Great Photos!!...
...They looked real happy that you were there tho photograph them..haha..
...but I so glad you did!..I enjoy looking at photos of other snakes!..keep up the good work.


:cheers:
~~'manda
 
Great shots and it looks like y'all had a lot of luck! Just a quick Q because I'm interested in them. How do you like the gloves? Do you feel like they restrict you at all or make you any more complacent?
 
Well, the gloves kind of make it difficult to get a good tight grip right behind the head because the kevlar is kind of thick, but if you get some practice in with non-venomous snakes (for safety) you should be able to use them well enough. They have been bite tested and they definitely work, so they're a great tool to have (if a bit pricey) if you're working a lot with venomous snakes. It allows for better control than using snake tongs, but they only cover up to the elbows while tongs give you a safer distance to hold the snakes at. Lose control of a snake when its in tongs and you're still a safe distance from the animal, but lose control while holding one in the gloves and you're in strike range. Its vital that you get practice in and get used to the thickness of the fabric before handling dangerous snakes.

We were using the gloves to hold the snakes out to take measurements of body length and tail length, its much easier doing it that way than trying to use the snake tongs.
 
Sweet. Yeah, price has kept me from getting them so far. Right now I just use hooks and tubes for measurements and handling, but I was going to use the gloves as more of a "back up" in case an arboreal or something comes up the hook at me or my hand gets in reach without me noticing (hasn't happened yet thank God). So, more of a "just in case" rather than something I just rely on in full. Thanks for the reply! The info is much appreciated.
 
Yeah they would be good to have in case one gets loose or something, or just as an extra precaution in case something like that does happen. So would some tongs, because they allow you to actually grip the snakes to keep them from falling off of hooks or coming up the pole at your hands. They'd be a much cheaper investment as well.
 
I love the really dark ones!! Have you thought of photographing them with a tape measure and using the snake measuring program to measure them?
 
Nanci said:
I love the really dark ones!! Have you thought of photographing them with a tape measure and using the snake measuring program to measure them?
Click to expand...

Never heard of it, but I have taken pictures with reference objects to manually determine length later :poke:
 
I have tongs too but prefer hooks. I just don't like the added pressure and strain of the tongs and I like the flipping ability of my hook and the fact that it's collapsible. Thanks for the info again and keep posting the great photos!
 
Pretty things but they look remarkably annoyed and somewhat smaller than I expected from their reputation...

Im curious too - what is that round opening in the centre of the lower jaw - is that something to do with the tongue?
 
I think thats where they breathe from? Not positive on that. Haven't really looked at snake anatomy and whatnot...Brandon will know :)
 
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