Don Freeman proclaimed:

"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...

Don Freeman wrote:



Yet you state that the snake was on the bank, and you were 20 ft away, on
the water, and in a boat. Now THAT sounds non-provoked.



Yep, I got him before he got me , or my wife, or my grand kids at a latter
time. I'm just helping to control the numbers of them around humans, there
are plenty of places for them where humans don't frequent.

This bad boy was over 6 feet long, very large and very old for a cotton
mouth

They no longer have any natural predators, there numbers must be
controlled, or "people" die. My state DNR has no problem with people
taking them out, they are far from rare, actually they are too numerous,
and they are just down right MEAN compared to other snakes, they are the
most aggressive snake in North America, one of the few that will come
after you, instead of fleeing.



Doing a search on "aggressive" and "cottonmouth" I find a lot of disparity
in opinions on wither the cottonmouth is actually aggressive or not.
Looking closer at the sources I find that the more reliable ones (as opposed
to joe blows blog site) tend to support the position that its aggressive
nature is not deserved. Regardless, the number of biting incidences is
incredibly low and the number of deaths from those bites minimal. Hardly
justifies killing every one you come across, especially if it poses no
threat to you.

But Don, it was large and old! Pay attention dammit! And it was a
threat to him and his wife and his unborn grandchildren! And it was
MEAN! And obviously intelligent, having survived all previous risks
other than the idiot factor--that alone can be a danger to some folk.