"qquito" wrote...
Hello, All:

I am located in southern Virginia. This afternoon, I saw a small snake
in the water near the edge of a pond while taking a walk there. The
snake swam near the edge and, for a few moments, got further away from
the pond edge and deeper into the water; then it was trying to get out
of the water and stopped half way out of the water. It then returned
back to the water and disappeared---maybe because it noticed that I was
approaching.

There are also quite a few turtles in the pond, and I have seen ones of
maybe 6 to 8 inches in size. Could these be snapping turtles?

Two years ago, I also saw otters showing up in the pond.

My question is: If one swims in such a pond, can one get bitten by
either snakes, or snapping turtles, or even otters? Are there any real
cases of swimmers who got bitten by these animals?

Snapping turtles are found in Virginia waters, but unless you chance upon
some sleeping giant the size of a 15" auto wheel (or bigger), recorded
attacks are few (but then, it's the unrecorded attacks which might raise
concerns, the attacked not around to file for the record). The snakes?
Having once been bitten by a teeny' little one while "gilling" for catfish,
in the Southern US, the "Cottonmouth" (for the bright light mucosa inside
wide-open mouths as they strike) water moccasin certainly is found in
Virginia, and a big one will ruin your day. A little one certainly
discomforted mine, and the legend in which snakes can't bite underwater is
only legend.

Snakes and turtles are desperately people-shy. Most ponds can be "safed"
for routine swimming by arriving with a lot of noise, carrying on and
popping beer cans, the mild screams of dates in insufficiently sized bathing
wear being groped, etc., but wise swimmers have been known to cut a branch
with which to beat the water before entering, sending snappers and snakes
a'flying.
Moccasins have ahabit od sunning themselves on limbs and dead brush
over-hanging creeks and ponds, waiting for the occasional meal-sized
wanderer to show up below. Most folks never see them. They are there, just
as Rattlers abound in the woods of Virginia, most unheard and unseen, since
the snakes will have long before heard the human invaders and attempted to
depart/hide. That's the danger of copperheads, hiding instead of moving,
and on occasion right where you're stepping/reaching.

Rumor has it that alligators are returning to some rivers in Southern
Virginia, but the return of beaver in substantial numbers has not been
accompanied by many frenzied beaver assaults on unwary swimmers.

TM "Doesn't taste much like chicken, either." Oliver