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Cottonmouth

Agkistrodon piscivorus · Snakes · Reptiles

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus): Heavy-bodied venomous snake, to about 1.8 m; adults olive, brown or black with dark, dumbbell-shaped crossbands that are darker at the edges and lighter in the centre, blackening toward the tail. Large spade-shaped head, brown, black or olive on top, with brown patches on the chin; inside of the mouth is bright white. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Agkistrodon piscivorus
Family
Viperidae
In North America
Native
Range
NatureServe lists the species in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas; Florida populations are assigned to A. conanti in that source.
Biology

How to identify it

Heavy-bodied venomous snake, to about 1.8 m; adults olive, brown or black with dark, dumbbell-shaped crossbands that are darker at the edges and lighter in the centre, blackening toward the tail. [1][2]

Large spade-shaped head, brown, black or olive on top, with brown patches on the chin; inside of the mouth is bright white. [1][2]

Juveniles are brighter with more distinct crossbands and a yellow tail tip. [1][2]

Males are longer and heavier than females. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Wide range of aquatic and wetland habitats: swamps, sloughs, bayous, ponds and streams in pine flatwoods, marshes, river bottoms, floodplains, tidal stream courses and sometimes brackish water. [1][2]

Winters in rocky hillsides, crayfish burrows, stumps or mammal burrows. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Threat display: shakes the tail, raises the head a few inches, coils and gapes to show the white mouth; also emits a foul musk. [1][2]

Mostly nocturnal but may bask by day; adults stay within about 500 m of water; most active roughly March-November in the Carolinas and inactive in cold weather. [1][2]

Eats fishes, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, birds and carrion; gives live birth to 1-16 young, mainly August-September. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

NatureServe lists the species in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas; Florida populations are assigned to A. conanti in that source.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology