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Posted by sbogill on January 13, 2003 at 20:21:58:
In Reply to: Thanks for the pics and comments , , ,> posted by terryp on January 13, 2003 at 17:55:03:
I used to know this taxidermist that lived in a town about half an hour drive from where I lived. I used to ride up there with a buddy that collected various DOR snakes and would take them to him to have the skins "professionally" tanned out. Later my friend even had some snakes mounted. Anyway, the taxidermist used to have a small collection of snakes from our locality. One interesting snake was a small cottonmouth that he claimed was over 8 years old. As the snake was only about 2.5' - 3' long this was already what I would unusual due to its diminutive size. I always suspected that maybe the specimen's growth was stunted due to an unnatural diet and/or living in cramped quarters----though I guess we have all seen snakes raised up in cramped quarters on unnatural diets that grew to their full natural length. The second thing that was unusual about the snake was its coloration. It was a shiny "jet black" all over its body----even on its belly. Now I have no doubt about the guy’s identification of the snake as an Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma (Western Cottonmouth), as I know the exact location the snake was collected and that place abounds with Western Cottonmouths. Typical specimens from that location would vary in color from a dark slate gray to a dark chocolate brown (but never jet black). That guy had a melanistic Cottonmouth----that’s for sure.
Best,
John (a.k.a. S.B. O'Gill)
