The Cottonmouth, or water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorous), is a venomous snake closely related to the copperhead. It is a pit viper, with a heat-sensing organ in its nose that allows it to locate warm blooded prey. The cottonmouth is a very aggressive snake. Unlike most snakes, including the copperhead, when startled the cottonmouth will stand its ground and open its mouth ("gape" or "smile"). Water moccasins have been known to actually approach and attack intruders. The bite of a cottonmouth is hemotoxic, causing severe necrosis near the site of the wound and eventual death in the victim if treatment is not received promptly. These snakes are good climbers, and they will frequently sun themselves in the branches of trees.

In coloration, the snake is a dull brown/gray, with distinctive yellow bordered patterns. As the snake grows older, its colors will mute, leaving it a muddy gray/black. Its young are born live. The cottonmouth's range is confined to the southern United States, with the northernmost population occurring in southern Illinois.

Because of the aggressiveness of the snake, the danger of its bite, and the way that its coloration changes with age, many harmless snakes (particularly water snakes of the genus Nerodia) are killed from the mistaken belief that they are cottonmouths. The cottonmouth range is in the following states:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• southern Colorado
• Florida
• Georgia
• southern Illinois
• southwestern Indiana
• southeastern Iowa
• southwestern Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• southern Missouri
• eastern North Carolina
• western Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• western Tennessee
• eastern Texas
• eastern Virginia
• coastal Maryland

External links

• Cottonmouth - image of the snake
• Cottonmouth Water Moccasin - general information and images
• Defensive behavior toward humans
• Safely removing a snake from your property - how to catch a cottonmouth, for a layman.

Cottonmouth is the codename of Lucy Liu's character O-Ren Ishii in the movie Kill Bill, directed by Quentin Tarantino. Cottonmouth is also a slang term for the dry sensation left in the mouth after smoking marijuana.