Gadestroyer74
Banned
That's my girl ! Chootem Nikki lol
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Curious visitor. Copper headed water rattler
- Thread starter krazywayne
- Start date
Nuttin Better
Senior Member
I cannot say that I have ever seen a cottonmouth on Jackson Lake but I have seen one on Flat Shoals Road in Covington and have seen them on the Yellow River in Porterdale. So dont be fooled there are cottonmouths up around here.
ThomasCobb123
Senior Member
*sigh*
No, as you very well know, they did not.
What they DID do is ruin the outdoor, wild, area that used to be. They, in general, panic at the sight of "man with gun"..."man with gun"..."man with gun" and then annoy the LEO's with phone calls. (when the LEO's got other things more important to do).
"He's shooting at our house" "ohhhhh the poor little chilrens" "we wouldn't stand for that back in New York"....etc etc etc. (all the while they have no common sense that a fella with a .410 shotgun knocking off a rattler here and there is probably a better friend to them than they realize.)
Are you one too?
(thank you iggy for being around when I need you)
Sweetwater
Senior Member
The BEST money spent by the Douglas county Board of Education in the 70's was paying "Okefenokee Joe" to come do a snake demo to all us youngsters at it's elementary schools.
None of the thousands of us kids will ever forget the sight of Joe coming out with his pet cottonmouth wrapped around his neck. I will never forget the lessons he taught us..snake ID..how to avoid getting bit...and why they are an important part of the ecosystem that serve us and nature. How they deserve better than being killed for no reason due to ignorance and fear.
So...I KNOW what a cottonmouth looks like.
Right off Post road...Winston..Douglas county Ga...is Moccasin Lake road. Named so for the abundance of cotton mouths that used to populate the lake when I was a kid.
Back in the 80's...The then closed KOA campground located to the right of the southbound Jodeco rd Flippen exit ramp off 75 south had a lake loaded with huge bluegill and huge cottonmouths.
Back in the 90's...saw one walking the banks of the fishing lake at Tanner state park. Reported it to the young DNR employee at the park who argued with me to no end that there are no moccasins this far north in Georgia..never has been...but he wouldn't get his fat self out of his chair and AC to go see the cottonmouth 15 minutes walk away...That I had taken the time and effort away from my fishing to show him. Your tax and license fees at work.
It's been awhile since I've been..but Moccasin creek off High falls lake used to be loaded in cottonmouths.
Over a lifetime spanning a soon to be 46 years...most of those spent fishing the banks of creeks, lakes , rivers and swamps of NW GA...I have seen thousands of cottonmouths and copperheads. Many of those were "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"...where I got closer than I shoulda because I wasn't paying attention...and shoulda been bit...but wasn't.
Mebbe I'm lucky...Mebbe the karma gods are repaying me for not killing every snake I see for no reason. Whatever the case may be....there are cottonmouths in NW ga. Not in the numbers they used to be...but they are still here.
And they...like every other snake...deserve to be left alone when in their homes...if they ain't bothering you. I was taught at a young age the "True Way" of an outdoorsman by a man ate up with cherokee blood. Respect...respect for the woods, waters, and creatures that we all love. Respect for the prey we hunt by giving it a quick clean kill. Respect for the resource by only taking what we need. Respect for all creatures by not killing for no reason.
If you didn't put it there...it don't belong to you.
It is sad that so many so called "outdoorsman" and country boys have an ignorance and fear of snakes. It is sad that many don't know the difference between a banded water snake and a copperhead.
Here's a hint...If one is bitten...it will be CRUCIAL to your survival to know exactly what kinda snake bit you. A google image search takes seconds.
None of the thousands of us kids will ever forget the sight of Joe coming out with his pet cottonmouth wrapped around his neck. I will never forget the lessons he taught us..snake ID..how to avoid getting bit...and why they are an important part of the ecosystem that serve us and nature. How they deserve better than being killed for no reason due to ignorance and fear.
So...I KNOW what a cottonmouth looks like.
Right off Post road...Winston..Douglas county Ga...is Moccasin Lake road. Named so for the abundance of cotton mouths that used to populate the lake when I was a kid.
Back in the 80's...The then closed KOA campground located to the right of the southbound Jodeco rd Flippen exit ramp off 75 south had a lake loaded with huge bluegill and huge cottonmouths.
Back in the 90's...saw one walking the banks of the fishing lake at Tanner state park. Reported it to the young DNR employee at the park who argued with me to no end that there are no moccasins this far north in Georgia..never has been...but he wouldn't get his fat self out of his chair and AC to go see the cottonmouth 15 minutes walk away...That I had taken the time and effort away from my fishing to show him. Your tax and license fees at work.
It's been awhile since I've been..but Moccasin creek off High falls lake used to be loaded in cottonmouths.
Over a lifetime spanning a soon to be 46 years...most of those spent fishing the banks of creeks, lakes , rivers and swamps of NW GA...I have seen thousands of cottonmouths and copperheads. Many of those were "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"...where I got closer than I shoulda because I wasn't paying attention...and shoulda been bit...but wasn't.
Mebbe I'm lucky...Mebbe the karma gods are repaying me for not killing every snake I see for no reason. Whatever the case may be....there are cottonmouths in NW ga. Not in the numbers they used to be...but they are still here.
And they...like every other snake...deserve to be left alone when in their homes...if they ain't bothering you. I was taught at a young age the "True Way" of an outdoorsman by a man ate up with cherokee blood. Respect...respect for the woods, waters, and creatures that we all love. Respect for the prey we hunt by giving it a quick clean kill. Respect for the resource by only taking what we need. Respect for all creatures by not killing for no reason.
If you didn't put it there...it don't belong to you.
It is sad that so many so called "outdoorsman" and country boys have an ignorance and fear of snakes. It is sad that many don't know the difference between a banded water snake and a copperhead.
Here's a hint...If one is bitten...it will be CRUCIAL to your survival to know exactly what kinda snake bit you. A google image search takes seconds.
Coenen
Senior Member
I remember Okeefenokee Joe! "Swamp wise!" He had a special that ran on GPTV a fair bit back in the early 90's.
Can't remember if he ever came to our school, but we definitely had a reptile demonstration or two when I was in elementary. I agree 100% that a little bit of education, and interaction can make a world of difference in the way people view, and feel about snakes. You've just got to figure that they're like any other wild animal, they don't want anything to do with a person. Their method is what causes the problem. A deer or squirrel can run away, but a snake is going to hunker down and try to rely on camouflage, which makes it easy to get "too close" before you knew you were "close" in the first place.
Can't remember if he ever came to our school, but we definitely had a reptile demonstration or two when I was in elementary. I agree 100% that a little bit of education, and interaction can make a world of difference in the way people view, and feel about snakes. You've just got to figure that they're like any other wild animal, they don't want anything to do with a person. Their method is what causes the problem. A deer or squirrel can run away, but a snake is going to hunker down and try to rely on camouflage, which makes it easy to get "too close" before you knew you were "close" in the first place.
Alan in GA
Senior Member
of all the snake ID's I've heard....
I'm 62. I grew up hunting for non poisonous snakes most of my life. Same hunts run me into poisonous snakes of course. I used to dream of working for Ross Allen's Snake farm at Silver Springs since visiting it about 1959 or so. Also visited the snake doctor's serpentarium in Miami way back when. I've lived in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, New York, and Georgia as the son of an Air Force Dad.
I don't know all my snakes as there are many subspecies of even 'common' snake families.
One thing I do know is that more than half, that is, MOST of the snake identifications I hear are incorrect. I'm talking about when 'the' snake is visible and someone else and I are both able to look at it.
Not judging anyone here, just submitting what I've experienced in my life.
Experience #2: MOST of the incorrect ID's given are UNCHANGABLE, or in other words, the person offering the ID is SURE of what he says.
I'm more apt to give a 'opinion' even if I'm 99% sure of what I'm saying is true.
It is in my opinion odd that many folks anger when questioned about "what they base that on". They would rather declare their absolute opinion that even CONSIDER they 'might' be incorrect.
One of the most 'professional' learned statements I've ever acquired was the ability to say: "I'm not sure".
I've never seen a Water Moccasin that slim, but,.....I could be wrong : )
I'm 62. I grew up hunting for non poisonous snakes most of my life. Same hunts run me into poisonous snakes of course. I used to dream of working for Ross Allen's Snake farm at Silver Springs since visiting it about 1959 or so. Also visited the snake doctor's serpentarium in Miami way back when. I've lived in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, New York, and Georgia as the son of an Air Force Dad.
I don't know all my snakes as there are many subspecies of even 'common' snake families.
One thing I do know is that more than half, that is, MOST of the snake identifications I hear are incorrect. I'm talking about when 'the' snake is visible and someone else and I are both able to look at it.
Not judging anyone here, just submitting what I've experienced in my life.
Experience #2: MOST of the incorrect ID's given are UNCHANGABLE, or in other words, the person offering the ID is SURE of what he says.
I'm more apt to give a 'opinion' even if I'm 99% sure of what I'm saying is true.
It is in my opinion odd that many folks anger when questioned about "what they base that on". They would rather declare their absolute opinion that even CONSIDER they 'might' be incorrect.
One of the most 'professional' learned statements I've ever acquired was the ability to say: "I'm not sure".
I've never seen a Water Moccasin that slim, but,.....I could be wrong : )
Sweetwater
Senior Member
In my above post....I forgot to add the reason for it...and that was in response to those saying there were no cottonmouths north of Macon.
I agree with you...doesn't look like any cottonmouth I've ever seen...and it's hard to be sure....but I don't think it's a copperhead either.
