Venomous Water Moccasin Found in Orlando Neighborhood

Storyful
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An expert snake trapper caught a four-foot-long cottonmouth snake, or water moccasin, that was slithering through a Florida suburb on July 4.

This video, recorded by Todd Engle, shows herpetologist Bob Cross capture the cottonmouth, which is a common species throughout the southeastern US. Using snake tongs and a bucket, Cross caught the disgruntled snake, but a struggle ensued when it was time to pop the lid on.

Engle told Storyful he spotted the cottonmouth near the sidewalk in his neighborhood In Lake Mary, near Orlando, and contacted Bob Cross, owner of Critter Capture Services in Florida.

“Any cottonmouth over four feet is considered a very large snake,” Cross told Storyful. “I have only caught a few over four feet in my 50 years of herpetology.”

Water moccasin bites can be deadly if not treated in the hospital with antivenom.

Cross told Storyful that “the cottonmouth was donated to the Discovery Reptile Center in DeLand, Florida, for the production of antivenom.” Credit: Todd Engle via Storyful

Video Transcript

- [INAUDIBLE]

- He's a big boy.

If you want to get a good picture of the mouth, come around this way.

- [LAUGHS] Yeah.

- He'll open his mouth every time I put this in front of it.

- (CHUCKLING) Wow!

I got 'em.

- Sorry.

- Ooh, big boy. Big girl. Actually, it's a female.

- You can tell?

[LAUGHTER]

- [INAUDIBLE]

- That is crazy. That is nuts.

- Let's go get some good pictures. You can post for me.

- Oh, you want a picture?

- Yeah. Yeah, that you can post.

- Yeah.

[LAUGHTER]

Oh, my god!

- It posed for you. You know, I've caught so many cottonmouths in here. And then it just dropped off, like, the last six months. This is the first one probably in six months. But I was catching them, like, every month, every month, every month.

- During the dry season?

- Huh?

- During the dry season?

- I can't see-- well, obviously it was drier. Well, now we're drying out again. Probably during the dry--

But look at this. Look at it.

- [LAUGHS]

[LAUGHTER]

- Get back in there, will you?

I need a better grip on him.

- [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGHS]

- If I let go, he's going to crawl out.

[LAUGHS]

- Are they always this much fun?

- Sometimes. If you would--

- Go stand over here?

- In the back of my car--

- Yeah.

Do you want me to get the cover?

- Yeah.

- What time is it?

- I just don't like him having that long neck.

- Here you go.