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

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