Posted by Bernie Boyett on July 4, 2006

Q: Hi,

I live in Louisiana in a subdivision with many man-made lakes. We also have a lovely pond next to our front door. We have several types of fish in our small pond and have had many visitors like frogs and turtles that come and stay a few days and then leave. However we found our most startling visitor today, a young cottonmouth snake. We were able to catch him. I have him in a big pickle jar. The fact that I have some expensive koi in my pond and the location next to our front door played a major role in ousting our newest visitor. Because he is venomous I feel I can't just let him go in one of the subdivision lakes and I don't want to kill him. Any suggestions?

Habitat: pond/lake

State: Louisiana

Habitat: pond/lake

A: You're special!!!!!! Most people would simply kill the snake and feel very good about that. I can certainly understand your eagerness to have the snake live elsewhere though. Are you sure it's a Cottonmouth? Some of the watersnakes look a bit like Cottonmouths but don't gape and show a very white mouth lining. I'm assuming you know what you have though.

Since snakes are ectotherms (cold-blooded), they can go for quite a while without food. Why not just keep your snake with you until you're taking a drive past a wild area where you can release it? That's what I would do. One other thought is that a local zoo or nature center may want a Cottonmouth for their collection. You might try there too. Sure hope this helps and so glad you're treating your snake so respectively. My best.

John Wiessinger ( July 4, 2006)