Venomous Snakes in Maryland - Poll

[teqmod]

Saw a good sized timber on the way up Sugarloaf mountain a couple years ago.

 

[Erno86]

One of my favorite rock bank fishing holes...up Liberty Reservoir, contained a whole den of copperheads.

While field surveying some of the Army Corp of Engineer dredge filled islands... on the Cape Fear River, in North Carolina, I almost stepped on two water moccasins --- You talk about an adrenaline rush!!! One was on Eagle Island,{ one of our Baltimore survey crew's nicknamed it "Evil Island"}, where the battleship North Carolina is docked. One water moccasin, attacked one of our survey van's on Eagle Island --- The other island, was near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, which is also infested with billions of fire ants.

 

[WeaponsCollector]

A few years ago I swam with a copperhead in a swimming hole at a camp site in Virginia(not by choice, it came out while I was swimming). It was exciting until my friend killed it just in case it might bite someone. Didn't go back in the water after that.

 

[j_h_smith]

I hate to say it but the DNR is incorrect. There is another venomous snake in Maryland, however, since it's rear fanged, it's not usually dangerous for human adults. Their venom could cause issues if the snake were to bite and chew on a small child. If they were to hit you in a defensive strike, there's probably very little chance of being envenomated. They catch their prey and chew on them to envenomate them. They do not release enough venom to hurt an adult, but a small child could be sickened if the snake is allowed to chew on a hand or foot.

The Eastern Hognose Snake.

 

[boss281]

I hate to say it but the DNR is incorrect. There is another venomous snake in Maryland, however, since it's rear fanged, it's not usually dangerous for human adults. Their venom could cause issues if the snake were to bite and chew on a small child. If they were to hit you in a defensive strike, there's probably very little chance of being envenomated. They catch their prey and chew on them to envenomate them. They do not release enough venom to hurt an adult, but a small child could be sickened if the snake is allowed to chew on a hand or foot.

The Eastern Hognose Snake.

Right you are, see: Grogan,W. L., Jr. 1973. Effects of accidental envenomation from the saliva of the Eastern hognose snake, Heterodon platirhinos. Herpetologica 30(3): 248–50.

The "victim" in this report was me, at the age of 16. Anne Arundel County. In my mind's eye, it was a larger snake, perhaps 28", and a nice red pattern...

 

[MattTheGunslinger]

No cottonmouths at all in Maryland, they are a warmer climate snake. The Northern Water Snake that is abundant in Maryland waters is often mistaken for a cottonmouth and just as aggressive.

Wish someone would have told that cottonmouth I saw that he wasn't supposed to be this far north. :-)

The NWS and cottonmouth have very different shaped heads. Definitely wasn't a NWS. Keep in mind I'm not trying to claim that they are inhabiting this area in large number. This may have just been one or two that strayed that far north.

An acquaintance of mine who is much more of an outdoorsman/naturalist then I am has also positively seen a cottonmouth in the Patapsco area. He says just because a government agency hasn't confirmed it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I tend to agree with that idea.

 

[3paul10]

This one snuck up on me while I was sitting on the end of my porch and almost slithered over my feet while I was looking out into the woods.

Fellas, are you telling me there are rattle snakes in Clearspring? Now I will be super paranoid...

 

[1841DNG]

I have seen a few copperheads around but it has been a while. I do remember when I was a kid my neighbors found a rattlesnake and someone from the state confirmed it. They are definitely around.

 

[mac1_131]

Fellas, are you telling me there are rattle snakes in Clearspring? Now I will be super paranoid...

G&S? But you don't need it...

 

[Clark W. Griswold]

Wish someone would have told that cottonmouth I saw that he wasn't supposed to be this far north. :-)

The NWS and cottonmouth have very different shaped heads. Definitely wasn't a NWS. Keep in mind I'm not trying to claim that they are inhabiting this area in large number. This may have just been one or two that strayed that far north.

An acquaintance of mine who is much more of an outdoorsman/naturalist then I am has also positively seen a cottonmouth in the Patapsco area. He says just because a government agency hasn't confirmed it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I tend to agree with that idea.

I have spent the majority of my 46 years on earth in the patapsco valley. There are no cottonmouth in that river drainage. Plenty of northern water snakes that are mean as hell.

Closest to Md I have seen a cottonmouth was in the dunes near hatteras lighthouse. Have some real good pics that pissed my wife off while I was taking them

 

[j_h_smith]

I've got a good friend who goes out to find venomous snakes all over the east coast. He assures me there are no cottonmouths in Maryland.

 

[ted76]

I saw plenty of Cottonmouths when I lived in Virginia Beach and fished there and in Chesapeake City, but have never seen one fishing North of there.

 

[Huckleberry]

Just heard an interesting Copperhead fact....

The length of their fangs are proportional to the length of their body. Longer body means longer fangs to bite your unsuspecting butt.

 

[Striper69]

As for the poll, copperheads and timber rattlers are in Maryland. I think Eastern Diamondback would have been a good distractor because they sound like they would be in Maryland. I've seen a lot of copperheads in Maryland and Virginia, but never a rattler.

I do a LOT of outdoor activities - hiking, mountain biking, camping, hunting, etc., and I have never seen a rattlesnake in the wild. Supposedly they are all over Colorado and every day in the spring, summer, and fall there are news stories of people or dogs getting bit in my county, but I've never seen one. I've done a lot of hikes where the description has a warning about rattlesnakes and never seen one. I have a theory that there are only three live rattlesnakes in the world. They are owned by a guy who rents them out to photographers and movie makers by the hour.

When I was stationed at Ft. Bragg I was driving to the Cape Fear river to fish for catfish. On the dirt road leading to the river there was a huge rattlesnake in the road. I can't say how long it actually was but it's head was even with mine as I looked at it through my driver's seat window.

I backed the car up and ran over it several times then went fishing. On the way back I stopped to cut off it's rattles. It had crawled to the ditch and I thought it was dead. When I got close it started rattling at me.

I left it alone then...

 

[Striper69]

Just heard an interesting Copperhead fact....

The length of their fangs are proportional to the length of their body. Longer body means longer fangs to bite your unsuspecting butt.

I was in the NG after I got out of the RA and we were doing our yearly 2 week thing at a fort in Virginia. I was a 11B and was walking point on a patrol with a full bird Colonel right behind me.

There was a clearing with a sunny spot right in the middle of it and a pile of limbs was on the other end. As I walked into the middle of the spot I just noticed I was about to step on a huge Copperhead. I jumped over it and was lucky it didn't bite me. It must've been snoozing there...

 

[Striper69]

I have seen a few copperheads around but it has been a while. I do remember when I was a kid my neighbors found a rattlesnake and someone from the state confirmed it. They are definitely around.

I saw lots of snakes swimming in the Ches. Bay while I was fishing there. Could've been Moccasins. I saw snakes swimming in the Potomac and coming up on the Md. side when I fished there. A girl got bit by a copperhead on the Va. side when she was walking barefoot up there on one of those scenic view places. The antidote costs huge amounts of money. Hope you got good insurance...

 

[Striper69]

What kind of water snake is this beauty? This was at our farm in Va.

One Sunday I was driving on Rte. 15(?) just south on APG. There's a creek there and a small bridge. They were doing work around the bridge and a huge black snake was in a crack in the bridge concrete. It raised it's head and I got in the other lane to avoid it. I thought sure it would be hit but it wasn't there when I returned.

 

[sxs]

I've seen quite a few Northern Water Snakes. One of the coolest things I saw with them was one that had actually captured a small catfish and had it just to the side of the water and out of the water. Up till then, I had no idea that snakes would eat fish! I have a lot of friends who are/were involved with DNR as Naturalists, Rangers, etc. I myself considered going into the field for a time while in college. I am well aware that Cottonmouths aren't officially in Maryland and given that I've never seen one despite all the time I spent around the water, I'm always suspect about reports of them showing up here. However, one acquaintance that I knew some years back who I would presume knew the difference was supposed to have seen one on the lower Eastern Shore (perhaps 35 - 40 years ago when he told me this). Also, there was a newspaper report about one found near a stream in Southern Maryland, but actually also very close to a roadway many years ago. I'm inclined to believe that the cottonmouth may, in fact, be here on rare occasion.

FYI, I remember reading news accounts of 2 or 3 similar instances over the years of Timber rattlers turning up in Central Maryland...one found on Dorsey Road....although it was presumed they 'hitchhiked' on vehicles from other areas.

 

[Minuteman]

I've seen quite a few Northern Water Snakes. One of the coolest things I saw with them was one that had actually captured a small catfish and had it just to the side of the water and out of the water. Up till then, I had no idea that snakes would eat fish! I have a lot of friends who are/were involved with DNR as Naturalists, Rangers, etc. I myself considered going into the field for a time while in college. I am well aware that Cottonmouths aren't officially in Maryland and given that I've never seen one despite all the time I spent around the water, I'm always suspect about reports of them showing up here. However, one acquaintance that I knew some years back who I would presume knew the difference was supposed to have seen one on the lower Eastern Shore (perhaps 35 - 40 years ago when he told me this). Also, there was a newspaper report about one found near a stream in Southern Maryland, but actually also very close to a roadway many years ago. I'm inclined to believe that the cottonmouth may, in fact, be here on rare occasion.

FYI, I remember reading news accounts of 2 or 3 similar instances over the years of Timber rattlers turning up in Central Maryland...one found on Dorsey Road....although it was presumed they 'hitchhiked' on vehicles from other areas.

Thanks for that, I agree. Not that my opinion matter, I know nothing about snakes, except that I generally just avoid them. But I believe it, DNR says none here, they should know. But also makes sense that maybe, once in a blue moon one could 'hitch a ride'. But with nothing to mate with, shouldn't be a phenomenon for long. I wonder though, if a pregnant female cottonmouth made it up this far, and gave birth, could that begin a population migration?

 

[sxs]

Thanks for that, I agree. Not that my opinion matter, I know nothing about snakes, except that I generally just avoid them. But I believe it, DNR says none here, they should know. But also makes sense that maybe, once in a blue moon one could 'hitch a ride'. But with nothing to mate with, shouldn't be a phenomenon for long. I wonder though, if a pregnant female cottonmouth made it up this far, and gave birth, could that begin a population migration?

I know a little about snakes given my longtime interest in the outdoors. I started out a Math/Physics major in college that changed majors to Computer Science. However, when taking an elective course in Zoology, I encountered a professor who so stoked my already-budding love of the outdoors, I considered making that change of major to Ecological Science or Wildlife Biology. I took that professor's courses in Ecological Science and Estuarine Biology even though I didn't need them for electives. It affected me so that I consider myself a bit of a naturalist even today....well over 40 years later. Indeed, it was in the Estuarine Biology course that we were investigating the yellow perch run at the stream leaving Lake Waterford in Pasadena MD that runs to the Magothy river. In those days, once the run was going good, the bottom of the stream would be black with massive numbers of spawning perch. It was there, just as the run began starting, I saw the Northern Water snake with the catfish.

For a couple of years I kept a 3+ ft Black Rat snake I captured outside my parents home and for a couple months, an Eastern Hog nosed snake that I captured on a Christmas Tree farm I worked on for a couple years during several weeks in May and June when college let out for the summer (near where the Severn WalMart is now - those trees don't usually get that full and a classic Christmas Tree shape without intervention, lol! We trimmed 'em each year). Used to go buy 'food' for the snakes at the Reptile House that was on Rt 2 just north of 695 (across from HArbor Freight)....'pinkies' and 'fuzzies'...i.e just born mice and some a few days old that were pink...and, you guessed it, a few days old.... just getting fuzzy.

The damn Rat Snake would let you handle him no problem once you had hold of him. But once, he bit the sh_t out of me when I 'missed' getting him behind the head (no problem picking him up outside, but trying to pin him in the aquarium I kept him in could be a challenge). He would only act aggressive when you first would go to pick him up. However, once handled a minute or so, you could easily handle him or even hand him off to someone else. He did draw blood with that one particular bite. Then, after getting out of his cage in my parents house one time, I was made by my mother to let him go and the Hog Nose snake go. I let then both go near where each was found. I guess in retrospect, that it was amazing she let me keep the things at all.

Had a black Rat snake get into the basement of my home in Crownsville in the late 90s, removed it, showed the kids and released it into the woods out back. I think my kids were impressed that I could hand capture the thing. That one apparently got in through a dryer vent when I disconnected it for a day or so to replace it.

Often see Black Rat snakes near and around my home especially around my firewood. Have also seen numerous ring neck snakes including a couple found in my home and a Keeled Green Snake. Also saw a Northern water snake in my yard one time although I am probably 200 yds from the nearest water (a marsh).

I don't mess with snakes at all anymore since I tried to capture a Garter Snake, also living in my wood pile, to show my kids. Grabbed him by the tail to pull him out before he escaped into it and found out I am not as quick or as practiced as I was when I was younger and that one bit me too, also drawing blood...but just barely. I did have some reaction to the bite with some irritation and burning, so, since then, when I encounter a snake, I just look at it and let it go.