Cottonmouth or water snake?

[tail_slider]

This snake is causing fits on my Facebook page. A great debate has broke out over if this is a cottonmouth or a water snake so I figured I would ask someone better suited than I to make this call.

[Derek Roddy]

That is a moccasin.
Can easily see the stripping through the back of the law, through the eye and to the rostral......cotton mouth.

This type of patterning can be found throughout the top end of Carolina into NC

D

[pdomensis]

Yep. Cottonmouth.

[Will0W783]

That is definitely a cottonmouth/water mocassin. You can tell from the markings, shape of the body and the head shape and pattern.

[poison123]

Hmm. 3 people voted water snake. Would like to know what made them think that...

I'm going with cottonmouth for reasons already pointed out.

[Pirarucu]

Cotton. The white markings on its jaw are a dead giveaway. Who voted watersnake?

[Will0W783]

Apparently 3 people think it's a water snake.....*sigh*

[sharthun]

Agkistrodon piscivorus!!!! Definitely cottonmouth.

[IW17]

Without a doubt, it's a cottonmouth. The fact that three people on this site think it's a harmless water snake kinda concerns me. Hopefully they know enough not to trust their own judgment and go around picking up random Snakes.

[StudentoReptile]

I hate saying for sure without seeing the snake firsthand, but it really looks more like a cottonmouth, in terms of body shape, markings, coloration and head shape.

[Sharlynn93]

I did not vote on this due to the fact I don't really know either species...I tend to shy away from snakes in the wild unless they are species I know for sure...i.e. garters, racers, rats, milks, and we do have quite a few rattlers around here, but i definitely stay away from them and areas that they may frequent such as during drought seasons, etc...there have been many summers I didn't take my kids to certain recreational areas because of reports of rattlers in the area trying to find water, etc...we do have water snakes in PA, but I don't think I have ever seen any, and I grew up around rivers and streams...

[knox]

Cotton Mouth 100%