![]() If you come across a patchy, brown snake that coils its body and raises its head like a viper, use your ears. If the viper charade doesn't work, they'll roll over and play dead. They will hiss and strike with their pointy noses, but they don't attempt to bite. Some hognose snakes can also flatten their heads to take on a cobra-like appearance. When threatened, they mimic vipers by raising and "puffing up" their heads with air while they coil their bodies. Sometimes called "puff adders" in Florida, these snakes are harmless. They can be recognized by their pointy, upturned noses. Hognose snakes come in a variety of colors and patterns. Copperhead bites are painful, but very rarely fatal. They are pit vipers with very effective brown and tan camouflage. Rarely, copperheads are spotted further south in the peninsula. The cottonmouth also has a narrow, vertical pupil, while banded water snakes have round pupils.Ĭopperheads are not as common in Florida as other parts of the southeast, but their range does include parts of north Florida and the panhandle. When threatened a water snake can flatten its head and body to create a shape similar to a cottonmouth, but the head will look flat, not blocky. A water snake has a slender body and small head, with no distinct neck. A cottonmouth has a heavy body and a blocky, wedge-shaped head. The visual difference between the two is the shape of the head and body. But they are, in fact, non-venomous lookalikes that have mastered the art of disguise. Most importantly, the cottonmouth packs a mean and potentially deadly bite.īanded water snakes have a similar patchy brown appearance, and they can flatten their heads to look like vipers when they're threatened. It's named for the pale coloring inside its mouth. It's a semi-aquatic viper that you might find around any body of fresh water in the southeastern United States. The cottonmouth is a common and venomous Florida snake, also called a water moccasin. The trouble with brown snakes is they all look very similar. It's an easy way to remember that the narrow bands are yellow on a coral snake and black on a king snake.īut, as is the rule for all snakes, stay away if you're not sure. If red touches black, friend of Jack," or something similar. ![]() If you grew up anywhere in the coral snake's large southeastern range, you probably heard the rhyme, "If red touches yellow, it's bad for a fellow. News 6 partner Florida Today offered the tips below on how to spot the differences between venomous snakes and harmless fakers. – Out of the 50 species of snakes native to Florida, only six are venomous but some harmless snakes avoid predators by impersonating their dangerous counterparts.Ĭan you tell the difference between a dangerous coral snake and a mild-mannered king snake? Is that angry-looking "viper" in the flower bed really as vicious as it seems?
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