Agkistrodon piscivorus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Agkistrodon piscivorus is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the Southeastern United States. As an adult, it is large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite. When threatened, it may respond by coiling its body and displaying its fangs. Individuals may bite when feeling threatened or being handled in any way. It tends to be found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes, streams, and marshes. It is a capable swimmer, and like several species of snakes, is known to occasionally enter bays and estuaries and swim between barrier islands and the mainland.
The generic name is derived from the Greek words ἄγκιστρον agkistron "fish-hook, hook" and ὀδών odon "tooth", and the specific name comes from the Latin piscis 'fish' and voro '(I) eat greedily, devour'; thus, the scientific name translates to "hook-toothed fish-eater". Common names include cottonmouth, northern cottonmouth, water moccasin, swamp moccasin, black moccasin, and simply viper. Many of the common... Wikipedia →
Recording0:07
United States · 2022
© bnjmncrmrn · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Cottonmouth sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 58 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 30 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, April–May and August–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Cottonmouth in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in March, June–July and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Cottonmouth sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Houston, in our data
Houston is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Northern Cottonmouth sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Cottonmouth is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Houston (58 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
