My high school biology teacher was also a pretty renowned herpetologist, and he insisted that water moccasins could not survive an Illinois winter. I believe him. There is, however, a small population in extreme southern IL. We do have rattlesnakes, and they aren't afraid of water. I once observed a magnificent timber rattler swimming across a cove in Kincaid Lake. He was 6 ft long, as thick as a beer can, and had at least 17 rattles on his tail. There are also massasaugas around the Carlyle Lake area. They have signs up about them, and an idiot was bitten by one a few years ago while playing w/one. I respect, admire, and encourage all snakes on my property, but I am prejudiced toward water snakes. They are fish-eating machines.
