On the Defensive
This is the Florida cottonmouth, a snake that I love and respect dearly. Cottonmouths have such bad reputations, and it makes me so sad because they are such fantastic creatures. There is a commonly held belief that they “chase people away from their nests” and “aggressively stand their ground.” These ideas are simply a total misinterpretation of their behavior. Snakes are not humans; you cannot interpret their actions in human terms, you must interpret their actions in snake terms. First of all, cottonmouths don’t ever nest. In fact the only snake in the world that nests is the king cobra. Second, when a cottonmouth or any snake moves toward you on the ground, it is not an aggressive move; rather, they are fleeing. See, snakes have poor eyesight and they get confused easily when scared. They look at you and see something big and mistake you for a tree or some other form of shelter under which they can hide. Thirdly, what we see as a cottonmouth “standing its ground” is really just the snake remaining motionless in the hopes that you won’t see it. If it flees, you are more likely to see it and eat it (at least that is what it thinks).
This cottonmouth is giving me its characteristic open-mouthed defensive display. In the hundred or more cottonmouths with which I’ve interacted, this is the one and only time I have ever witnessed its defense display. And it only threatened me because I was being annoying, laying on the ground in front of it on my stomach with my camera in one hand and a stick in the other trying to move the brush away from it get a clear shot. As soon as I put the stick down, the defense display stopped and the snake turned and left.
This shot was taken across the road from my house north of Gainesville, Florida.
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Jon C, 6 months ago
This is absolutely stunning!!
Meach, 6 months ago
Brilliant shot EC and a fascinating insight into snake behaviour
Cheri McEachin, 6 months ago
You have to love the cottonmouth. Excellently portraid here…and what a desciption..:)
ferndesign, 6 months ago
wow this is an awesome shot great awesome!!!
Deborah Parkin, 6 months ago
wow!!! What an amazing image – the mouth is so white you feel like you can almost touch it – this is such an expressive image – i can’t stop looking at him – a wonderful insight. Beautiful work as always Erin.
Dave Sandersfeld, 6 months ago
I bet you saved 100s of snakes by your description here. You’re a Saint! Oh! simply incredible photo!
daniels, 6 months ago
wonderful shot that shows where they get their name from. I have floated the river and had a few of these drop in the boat with me. the noise you create scares them and wakes them up and they fall from the limbs above where they were sleepling. not fun! db
Cynthia Adams, 6 months ago
Erin..you are a mine of information and I do so enjoy reading your descriptions of the beautiful creatures you capture so beautifully.I agree with Dave….if anyone doesn’t know a cottonmouth,they certainly will after seeing your work…Brilliant work and so clear Erin…welcome back to the Bubble.xxxxxx
velveteagle, 6 months ago
I love to learn about things and today you have given me a gift .. This is a great capture Erin..
berndt2, 6 months ago
Incredible shot, and I love all the accompanying information. I still kind of get chills reading about the stuff you do to get these shots, though!
RonniLeigh, 6 months ago
I sure do love your capture this one is amazing. I am very scared of snakes due to a childhood experience. And I have always heard the worse things about cottonmouths. We have lot’s of them in Missouri forsure. With your information may help me to know a better understanding of cotton mouths.
Keeli, 6 months ago
Incredible capture!
Steve Bulford, 6 months ago
Wow…..great capture and timing! Nice detail too. Well done Erin.
Steve Bullock, 6 months ago
Terrific shot..
Crockpot, 6 months ago
Wow – that is an AMAZING shot!
bobbymcleod, 6 months ago
excellent action so well captured!
TrEaSuReDiMaGeS, 6 months ago
WOW…... This is Gorgeous Erin. What a Brilliant capture!! Such wonderful lighting on this snake too and an awesome shot with its mouth open like that! They are so fortunate to have an admirer and someone who advocates on their behalf like you do!! :-) Well done!!
MattTworkowski, 6 months ago
This is fantastic Erin,super capture of this beautiful little guy.
mlgkats, 6 months ago
wow great capture, great detail, great lighting
Helene Kippert, 6 months ago
Great description Erin and a fantastic shot!
GabrielK, 6 months ago
amazing shot and great description of the snakes nature
Hiroko, 6 months ago
That is really awesome!!
Paul Scarsella, 6 months ago
wow excellent shot! I love your description as well.
micmac, 6 months ago
This is an amazing shot.
Keegan Wong, 6 months ago
Wow that’s dedication there Erin, you’re definitely a brave young lady! I guess thats what it takes to get a perfect shot like this! This is great!
Al Neaimi, 6 months ago
good image
HELUA, 6 months ago
Amazing photo and comments. Thanks for sharing this !
GerryMac, 6 months ago
amazing closeup Erin!
Jacky, 6 months ago
wow..scary..excellent shot..but scary:))
Kate Towers IPA, 6 months ago
awesome capture, lovely snake!
Lucindawind, 6 months ago
fantastic capture and scary ....
ECGardner, 6 months ago
Thanks all so much. :) I really appreciate the feedback and support.
J.K. York, 6 months ago
wow, it looks a tad pissed! i can see you there happy to find your friend. really well done for a one handed shot! amazing detail. good info on snake behavior as well. great work Erin. happy you finally got the defensive display!
jsjones, 5 months ago
Yeah, this has always been one of my favorites of your body of work. Simply a fantastic composition. It really stands out from the typical gaping-cottony-mouth shots you see of cottonmouths. Probably the foilage tucked around the snake? There’s an added depth to this that makes it stand out. Just fantastic.
I need to buy a print of this one!
Eric Greiff, 4 months ago
incredible as in in-credible or un-believable in the very best of ways.
Gerguppy, 4 months ago
really cute little guy :)
Carla Jandelle..., 2 months ago
we have often the same issues here with our rattlers….sadly people will kill THEM just for the tail. not caring? that these beautiful snakes are starting to hit the ‘threatened’ lists! i’ve only seen 3 cotton mouths…while i was in tn/ky area….....and they were big/fat/calm….....not these giant evil monsters so many people talk about. great image!!!
Derek Dafoe, 2 months ago
Great capture!! Too bad the reputation gets so many of these guys killed!! :(
Lori Peters, 2 months ago
Whoa! We had 2 assignments to Florida in the military. I was scared to death of these things when we were deployed. i was an officer, supposedly fearless, but I did have trouble sleeping for fear that one of these things would get into my tent. Great capture!
Bandicoot, 2 months ago
Great shot Erin!!
I particularly like your description. You have a wonderful understanding of these animals and a clear and precise way of explaining it.
Bevan
mjaniceanne, 2 months ago
Fascinating stuff, would love to go chasing snakes with you! The best I have found was a Pygmy Rattler and he just wanted to get away fast. This is a great shot -and excellent composition especially for the circumstances.
Jocelyn Hyers, 2 months ago
breathtaking … absolutely stunning ..
fantastic description …
best shot of a cottonmouth I have ever seen …
Sheila Smith, about 1 month ago
Erin a great picture and information. You must be very confident around snakes, I very much doubt I could get that close and I’m sure I would have dropped my camera as soon as it opened its mouth. Respect!