Florida Cottonmouth

This venomous snake is a common snake. It's diet consists of fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, small turtles, salamanders, baby alligators, small mammals, and birds.

They are found mostly around water ways such as rivers, lakes, streams, and ditches, This snake is commonly mistaken for a non venomous water snake which sadly causes the banded water snake to be unjustly killed.

Which killing any large amounts of snakes causes an effect on the eco system by taking away a predator that helps to control the population of other wildlife that share the same water ways. So please if you can avoid it don't go out of your way to kill any snake just because it's there.

Also cottonmouths tend to be very aggressive snakes so do not go out of your way to mess with them. They will go after you and try to bite you. If you are ever bitten by a cotton mouth snake seek immediate medical attention. If it's on one of your limbs tie a bandanna or something similar tightly around the bitten limb to help slow the spread of the poison through out your body.

I hope that between the two photos that I decided to use you are able to see some of the differences between the venomous cottonmouth and the non venomous banded water snake!! In case your not sure the top photo is the cottonmouth and the bottom photo is the banded water snake!