While exploring the grounds of Corolla Village, near the Currituck Lighthouse, I was walking across a pedestrian bridge over near Marsh-like body of water and noticed this Cottonmouth snake below.  I'm assuming he had just ingested something because I was able to get as many pictures as I wanted.  It's times like these that I wish I had my telephoto zoom lens attached instead of my wide angle zoom.  Still, I was able to crank it up to 85.0 mm for a capture of my first venomous snake outside of captivity.

The water moccasin, North America's only venomous water snake, has a distinctive blocky, triangular head; a thick body; and a dangerous bite. Water moccasins rarely bite humans, however, and only attack when threatened. They are semiaquatic, so they're happy both swimming in water and basking on land in their native range in the southeastern United States.

Both "water moccasin" and "cottonmouth" are common names for Agkistrodon piscivorus, according to Sara Viernum, a herpetologist based in Madison, Wisconsin. "The name 'cottonmouth' comes from the white coloration of the inside of the snake's mouth," she said. Other local names include black moccasin, gaper, mangrove rattler, snap jaw, stub-tail snake, swamp lion, trap jaw, water mamba and water pilot.

Water moccasins are pit vipers, like copperheads and rattlesnakes. "Like all pit vipers, [they] have heat-sensing facial pits between their eyes and nostrils," Viernum said. These pits are able to detect minute differences in temperatures so that the snake can accurately strike the source of heat, which is often potential prey.


For more detailed info on this Venomous snake, here is a link...
http://www.livescience.com/43597-facts-about-water-moccasin-cottonmouth-snakes.html



Cha cha, Nikon D600, Raw Format, Focal Length 85.0 mm, PS-CS6, ACR, SPM, IrfanView.

Cheers,

Brian

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