MOCCASIN

Water moccasin or cottonmouth, common name for a poisonous aquatic snake, one of the pit vipers of the viper family. It is called cottonmouth because the lining of its mouth is white. It lives in swamps.

It is a slow-moving snake with hollow fangs that inject a toxin destructive to red blood cells. The bite, however, is rarely fatal, although it is painful and can cause local tissue damage.

Brown or olive, with broad black bands across its body, the water moccasin averages 1.2 m (4 ft) in length. It feeds on fish and amphibians.