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NEW EGYPT PRESS (New Jersey) 28 September 05 Deadly Texas snake caught in Plumsted (Lauren Bigge)
Plumsted resident John Lawrence, 15, got a nasty surprise when he came home from New Egypt High School Monday afternoon: a Texas cottonmouth water moccasin tried to bite him.
John said he was unlocking his front door, and saw something move from the corner of his eye.
The venomous snake (one of the most deadly in North America) sprang at him a moment later, aiming for his foot. He jumped back instantly.
He grabbed a shovel and got the snake to slither into a garbage can, then flipped the garbage can down on top of it. He put a shelf and a rock on top of the can to keep it securely trapped until help arrived.
John explained that he did not know at the time how dangerous the snake was - but he realized it didn't look like the harmless water snakes he has seen before.
He called 9-11, and the emergency responders called Upper Freehold Township Animal Control for him. He sat on the family's pickup truck in the driveway, and waited for an officer to arrive.
The animal control volunteer, John Klink , picked up the garbage can, at which point the cottonmouth water moccasin rapidly slithered behind some bushes.
Klink asked John to help him because he was having trouble tightening the noose after he caught the snake.
"He had me hold the canister," John said. "He got two ends of the snake, where it was thick enough, and he put it in the box."
They quickly closed the canister; Lawrence said he was a bit nervous at the time because Klink was telling him about the deadly snake as they were capturing it.
The cottonmouth water moccasin is known as an aggressive snake, and is a member of the pit viper family, which includes copperheads and rattlesnakes.
"I kind of got a little worried about that, because I was holding the bin," John said.
Its habitat encompasses wetlands and waterways. John and his mother, Melissa, think the snake ended up on their property because they live by a creek, off of East Millstream Road. However, the cottonmouth water moccasin is not native to this area.
John said he had been told the snake was probably let loose by someone a while ago, because it is native to Texas. This was a potentially deadly situation: the snake bite antidote is in Texas and the poison is so toxic it can kill a human in just a few hours.
Melissa Lawrence said she thinks timing and John's quick thinking saved their family, and possibly their neighbors as well. John was the first one to come home on Monday, before his parents or his 11-year-old brother, Jacob. She said she did not think she or Jacob would have handled the situation nearly as well as John.
"I cannot image what could have happened," Mrs. Lawrence said. "He's my 15-year-old hero."
Deadly Texas snake caught in Plumsted

I never believe the media or even local animal control. Experts they are not...Ignorance is not a good thing, however a picture would have been worth something...

Where the hell do these people get their information from? If I was any type of journalist, I'd do some research before writing an article that made me look like I had absolutely no knowledge about the issue whatsoever.

I'm with you guys. Terrible reporting..and a picture would have been worth a bunch. If cottonmouths are not native to Plumsted, then my money is on the snake not being a cottonmouth.
As far as their tendencies to be aggressive, I have caught over 300 Florida cottonmouths, & the next one to come towards me in a threatening manner will be the first to do so.
If the standard tool for catching snakes in that AC department is a noose, then they ought not go out on snake calls.

~~Greg~~

Okay....I just had to write the news paper:

Laura:

Does a picture exist of the snake? I would "Bet my Lungs" that it was a harmless water snake. In my experience, Animal control people can tell the difference between Cats & Dogs but that's about the extent of it. I doubt they could tell the difference between the 3 species of Cottonmouth even in a line up where they would have a 33% chance of getting at least one right. Just the fact that it "slithered off into the bushes when the garbage can was lifted" says's "water snake" to me. Cottonmouths HOLD their ground and know for their belligerence about it. They do not attack or act agressive at all but molesting one might get you bit. They are no danger at all unless you try to pick it up or step on it.

One other issue is a Cottonmouth could not survive wintering over up here in the North East...

There are lots of people who keep Venomous Snakes, releasing one to die in a climate unsuitable for it is not something keepers would consider.

Sincerely,

Al Coritz
North Eastern Antivenom Bank

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If you give somebody a match and they can keep warm for a while.
If you light them on fire, They will be warm for the rest of their life.

The photo printed in the paper next to the article. I'm not sure how you came across the article, but the one that I edited I changed every cottonmouth reference to water moccasin because that was the only classification they could definately make.

Thanks for the feedback though.

Melissa Hayes
Managing Editor
The New Egypt Press
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If you give somebody a match and they can keep warm for a while.
If you light them on fire, They will be warm for the rest of their life.

>>I changed every cottonmouth reference to water moccasin because that was the only classification they could definately make.

Um... That clears it up, Beavis... Huh, huh, huh...

The Editor at this paper has been working with me to get to the bottom of this Cottonmouth issue. Melissa sent me the picture below, which in a Northern Water Snake covered with landscaping bark dust. Please write her and thak her for following up and allowing me to make a positive ID. I wrote the following:
___________________________________________________________

Melissa:

Thanks for the picture. It's a common Northern Water Snake, a HARMLESS native species. Please print a correction, so people don't slaughter these harmless snakes thinking they are Venomous, just because of an idiot who (and I was right) maybe knows the difference between Cats & Dogs. It will also let the locals sleep better and not worry about their children and local snakes. God knows there are plenty of other things to worry parents these days.

Again thanks for the replys and allowing me to clear up an important community issue.

Best,

Al

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If you give somebody a match and they can keep warm for a while.
If you light them on fire, They will be warm for the rest of their life.