Western Cottonmouth Snake, 092708, Driftwood, TX--pg 2

Coloration shows this is a very mature snake. The head and body have darkened with age. The cheek stripe that, in a younger specimen, typically encloses the eye and sweeps back to the mouthline, is not visible on this side, but an area of yellowish brown below the mouthline, marked with darker brown blotches, can be seen. The labial (lip) scales are uniformly dark, unlike the bright yellow, darkly margined lip scales of the typical nerodian water snake. The architecture of the head is planar, not rounded like a nerodian head, and includes a distinct dorsal plane, a face and nose like the prow of a ship, with eyes facing outward from a facial plane angled 90+ degrees from the head's dorsal plane. Reflected light from the snake's retina shows a cat's eye pupil--typical of a New World viper, not the round pupil--typical of a New World colubrid. For detailed information on this species consult Werler & Dixon's Texas Snakes, pp. 356-365, hard cover ed. (2000).  Ann didn't get to see this snake in the water, but if she had, its body would have floated, with its head held aloft, parallel with the water (memory aid: "cotton floats"). Nerodian water snakes swim with their bodies submerged, their heads barely out of the water. NEXT PAGE

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