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Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), Natchez Trace Parkway, 2015.

This is the largest species of the genus Agkistrodon. The broad head is distinct from the neck and the snout is blunt in profile. Most specimens are mostly or entirely black; however, the color pattern may consist of brown, gray, tan, yellowish-olive or blackish ground color which is overlaid with a series of dark crossbands. Often confused for copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix), you can usually easily-differentiate the species by at least one obvious characteristic: A. piscivorus has broad, dark stripes on the side of its head extending back from the eye while A. contortrix has only a very tiny, thin dark line. Watersnakes of genus Nerodia are also similarly thick-bodied and large-headed but have round pupils (because they are non-venomous snakes).

U.S. National Park Service

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Natchez Trace Parkway, Code: NATR

National Park Service Facebook Photos

Title: Natchez Trace Parkway
URL: https://www.facebook.com/NatchezTraceParkwayNPS/?fref=ts

20150508

05/08/2015

Public Can View

Organization: Natchez Trace Parkway
Address: 2680 Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38804

Friday, December 9, 2016 1:30:46 PM

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