Originally posted by pondrookie:
I shot a 4 foot water moccasin on the shore of my pond over the weekend.
My wife used to be afraid of snakes, but we fished a lot in a lake that had SCADS of them, and she got used to them. We would pick up our stringer and often had a big water snake on that had swallowed a bluegill. What a headache! We started using a wire basket, and that helped a lot at first, but the snakes soon learned to find the spring-loaded lid and go inside. Well, we would just grab them and sling them out across the water, and they seldom came back after the inhospitible treatment.
About "moccasins". A 4 foot moccasin is just about a world record. They are very shy and secretive. I once caught a 3-1/2 footer, and it was MASSIVE! It was was much bigger around than my arm. The common brown water snake will often get 4 feet long, but aren't nearly as thick-bodied. They get very habituated to fishermen, and get to be a nuisance. They will not bite unless you step on them or hold on to them too long. Their bite is about like that of a catfish.
Yes, they are a nuisance, but generally speaking they should not be killed. When their population explodes, it's because their prey has exploded. That's mainly frogs and small catchable fish in very shallow water. When their prey is under control, they will crash or simply move on.
