A Northern Cottonmouth from a quick trip to Texas in 2024. In about 6 hours, I lost count of how many there were. These are large, interesting snakes with complex social behavior, which are unfortunately well stuck in the monster that is the American urge to believe in nonsense.

All of them, as did every one of the hundreds of cottonmouths I’ve ever seen, did one of three things:

• – Nothing at all
• – Escaped ASAP
• – Coiled, rattled its tail, and gaped like this

This pretty one was near my vehicle after I wrapped up a walk through the forest, followed by another just seconds later. I’ll be back for sure.