Wes note: Dear Venom-people ... I would have also posted this in the VIper or Crotalis sub-forums ... but the ole newt guy can't remember where Mocassins' fit. respects, Wes

THE TENNESSEAN (Nashville, Tennessee) 08 June 06 Giant snake raises eyebrows - TWRA, professor question photo of dead cottonmouth (Larry Woody)
Photo at URL below: An unidentified hunter holds what appears to be a giant cottonmouth that reportedly was killed earlier this spring in West Tennessee
Is the snake a fake?
A photo of an unidentified hunter holding what appears to be a giant, deceased cottonmouth moccasin has been making the rounds around the state via e-mail, prompting shivers and speculation.
The highly-poisonous snake supposedly was killed earlier this spring in West Tennessee's Big Sandy area.
"It has generated a lot of interest, but we haven't been able to confirm if the picture is real or some sort of trick photography," said Dave Gabbard, spokesman for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's Region I, where the snake reportedly was killed.
"Our field agents have asked around and so far they haven't come up with any information about it. That makes me suspicious, because if somebody killed a cottonmouth that big I think we'd be hearing about it. If it's real I'd like to have it mounted."
Dr. Floyd Scott, a professor at Austin Peay State University, has studied snakes for more than 30 years. He has viewed the photograph and said the snake is indeed a cottonmouth but questions its apparent gigantic dimensions.
"Most adult cottonmouths are between three and four feet long," he said. "The biggest I've ever seen was 5½ feet. The one in the photo appears to be twice that big. I suspect that it is being held out toward the camera, which would make it appear bigger than it really is.
"If it really is that big it's a monster, by far the biggest I've ever seen."
Scott said three species of poisonous snakes live in Tennessee: copperheads, rattlesnakes and cottonmouths. Cottonmouths are water snakes that prefer swampy areas. They are most common in West Tennessee and also inhabit some Midstate streams.
"I've found them on the Buffalo and Duck rivers, and in Cheatham and Montgomery counties," Scott said. "I've never heard of one in Davidson County, but they could exist there."
Of the three poisonous species, Scott said the rattlesnake's venom is the most toxic, with the cottonmouth's a close second.
The larger the snake, the more deadly it is because of the greater amount of venom it can inject. Larger fangs also penetrate deeper.
A cottonmouth the size of the one in the photograph could easily inject enough venom to kill an adult human.
Snakebites are relatively rare and almost never fatal nowadays, thanks to quick access to medical facilities where antidotes can be administered.
Fatal bites were more common — and more dangerous — back in the days when more people lived in remote areas and medical help was not readily available. Outdoorsmen can be at risk when they venture into remote areas where evacuating a snake-bite victim is not quick and easy.
Scott, who has never been bitten in his three decades of working with poisonous snakes, said cottonmouths generally are not aggressive and will retreat if given a chance. Most bites occur when a person accidentally steps on a snake or is agitating it.
"People start messing with a snake, trying to catch it or get it to strike, and the next thing they know they've been bitten," Scott said. "When you're in a snaky area, if you'll watch where you're going and use common sense you shouldn't have to worry."
Giant snake raises eyebrows

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