Discover When North Carolina Cottonmouths Are Most Active

As the weather gets warmer, you may be interested in discovering when North Carolina cottonmouths are most active. Certain species of any animal can thrive best in certain times of day or year. The cottonmouth is no exception. So, ready to learn more about when you might expect to see a cottonmouth in North Carolina? Keep reading below!

About Cottonmouths

Before learning about when cottonmouths are most active in North Carolina, it can be beneficial to learn more about the snake itself. This is because certain key characteristics can actually be helpful indicators that help you remember when a species is most active. For instance, imagine there’s a species that only eats one very particular animal. As a result, you would be able to guess that the species would be active around the same time as that animal. This is true for North Carolina cottonmouths as well!

One of the best places to start when learning about a species is to learn more about its name. For this species in particular, “cottonmouth” isn’t the only name used to describe them. In fact, “cottonmouth” is just one of two different common names, with the other being water moccasin. Whether you know it as a cottonmouth or a water moccasin, however, they still have the same scientific name: Agkistrodon piscivorus. 

You may be wondering why these names are important to know when trying to learn just when North Carolina cottonmouths are most active. Well, this is because these names help tell you more about the habitat and diet of the snake, which plays a large role in their activity.

The name “Agkistrodon” is derived from the Greek word “ankistron”, which means fishhook. Their species name is in reference to their fish diet. As a result, their species name, paired with the common name “water moccasin,” helps you to know that cottonmouths in North Carolina live around water and eat small fish. 

Appearance

Once you learn more about when cottonmouths are most active and where to find them, both of which will be discussed in greater detail below, you’ll need to know how to identify them. 

Cottonmouths gained this name for a reason. At first glance, it can be difficult to tell a cottonmouth from any other species of snake in North Carolina. They’re of average size, and they lack any truly distinguishing markings. They have a dark dorsal side that can make them easily mistaken for other species of snake that live in the same areas. 

However, if you happen to see one open its mouth, you’ll notice that, instead of pink or red, the entirety of the inside of its mouth is a bright white! This is one of the best ways to tell if a snake is a cottonmouth. However, you should never try to open their mouth on your own! Instead, be careful and make sure always to keep your distance, as well as never interact with any wild snake, especially one you can’t readily identify.

Where to Find North Carolina Cottonmouths

As you learned above, cottonmouths favor locations that are near water. They are a semi-aquatic species, and while they may not live entirely in water, much of their life revolves around it. As a result, you’re likely to find them in any freshwater location in North Carolina. However, they have a preference for dark, swampy areas that are rich in vegetation and places to hide. 

When Are North Carolina Cottonmouths Most Active?

North Carolina cottonmouths are a type of reptile. As a result, much of their life cycle and daily lives are similar to that of other reptiles. This includes the fact that cottonmouths are what is known as an ectotherm.

When you think about humans and other mammals, we can generate and maintain our own body heat. This allows us to go throughout our day-to-day lives relatively easily, as we can easily maintain biological functions such as digestion and metabolism. This isn’t true for all species, however. Some species, such as snakes, are ectotherms. You may also know them as cold-blooded, although this isn’t entirely accurate.

With ectotherms, they have to derive their body heat from outside sources. That’s why you’re most likely to see reptiles basking on heat sources, such as warm rocks in the sun. 

Because of this, cottonmouths are most active during the warmer months of the year when sunshine is anything but a scarce resource. However, weather that is too hot can be just as unfavorable as weather that is too cold for this semi-aquatic species. As a result, North Carolina cottonmouths are most active during the spring months of the year, although they’re not uncommon in the summer.

Cottonmouths are also nocturnal. However, you may also find them in the daytime when they are trying to increase their body temperature. 

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Jay Ondreicka/Shutterstock.com