Cottonmouth vs Water Snake!

The chances that I am going to find myself in swamps where these are found is almost non-existent and yet here I am at 2AM trying to differentiate the two.

This is such a good example to show that snakes are not hostile. They're just trying to defend themselves. Once they calmed down, they're not even trying to attack coyote and his friends or even escape

Can we please appreciate the cameraman. He did not have to be THAT close but he did.

This man literally risks his life just for us to learn about these different types of animals

10:43 As you can see, the cotton mouth looks significantly more evil than the common water snake.

Brave Wilderness is always on the trending tab. They deserve it though, they produce very high quality content.

I’m rewatching this because earlier today I went hiking around Bull Creek, Austin Texas. It’s a beautiful river trail and I went off the path to cross the river. Instinctively I felt like the area I was in was the perfect luxury home for a snake and I found one! Chillin like a villain 6 feet away from where I was standing. Because it had a really dark brown color to it and looked dummy thicc with no distinctive markings, I figured it for a water snake. I took a picture and left. I’m watching this video now, and I’m shitting a brick because I actually took a pic of a water moccasin instead. The snake was coiled up on a rock near a bunch of gnarly roots, mud, fallen trees and sticks in the forest right on the creek. I had no idea this Noodle puppy was actually a Danger Noodle so be careful on your adventures fellow Texans!

Coyote: *Dies*
Cameraman: *Describe the pain*

As a native Texan, I am intimately familiar with both species of snake. The Broad Banded snake is fairly easy to distinguish from the cotton mouth. Although their scale patterning is similar, the heads of these two snakes are completely different. The Broad Banded water snake has a colorful head.
Broad banded water snakes aren't usually aggressive and rarely strike even when captured.
Cottonmouth snakes are naturally curious as well as fearless, they also can be incredibly aggressive and easily provoked, particularly in late spring during mating season. I always warn anyone who isn't familiar with them to keep their distance as they are known to come directly toward you from a long distance away, especially in the water. Those heat sensing pits are highly sensitive and can detect heat from as far away as 50 yards.
We call them "The cobras of the South" for a reason. When threatened, they flatten out their heads and bodies in a similar way that traditional cobras do.
One unusually (getting more usual) warm January day, I encountered a very lethargic and confused cotton mouth on a hiking trail I walk often. It was desperately sunning itself and looked exactly like a tree root. I nearly stepped on it. If it were summertime,i surely would have gotten bit. It hadn't shed in some time and it's scales were very dull and grayish, perfectly camouflaged. I carefully moved it off the trail to a sunny spot where someone else wouldn't accidentally step on it. In this rare instance, it didn't even strike. It only hissed a bit. It reminded me of how I feel before I've had my morning coffee.
It was doing it's usual cobra impression (although much less enthusiastic, it didn't even raise it's head) I could clearly see those venom pockets were very full and hadn't been used for some time.
Just one of many, many encounters.

Thanks for this comparison. I was hanging out on a waterfall in Georgia with a friend a few weeks ago and after looking at this I believe the snake coming right at us was indeed a cotton mouth. As it was the snakes home we quickly swam back to the river bank and just enjoyed from a distance lol.

Who else thinks that he should be on the Netflix show you vs wild or at least with his own show

Thank you for working so hard on these videos for us I really need those tips because my whole backyard moccasin Territory

If I were in the wild and this guy was here, i'd feel 75% more safe

this man was a big part of my childhood. he will go down as a legend

I've said it before and I'll say it again.. coyote and his amazing team deserve a spot on one of the major animal and nature channels...100%

The cotton mouth looks so menacing! Ive been close to one of those before and on camera it looks so small but in real life these are so big! Good going Cyote

Brother you've rightfully earned a new subscriber. I love animals and love snakes especially, you're very educating and great at keeping my attention while getting your point across short and sweet. You show emotion with your work, and not just reading from some lame script. You've done a great job!

Coyote ur the best! Very informative and ur never afraid to show us everything even if u get bit or stung by something

There's no freaking way I'm going to intentionally pick up any living pit viper. Not a moccasin, or a rattler or a copperhead. Uh uh. No way, no how.

Water moccasins look so angry, like he's planning to murder you, whereas the Banded Water Snake looks like he'd like to go out with you for a drink.

This happened when I was in west Virginia. I was in this river with some family and there was a cottonmouth just going through the water and one of our friends threw a rock and crushed it before someone could get bit on land

One time, I was playing in a river, trying to catch minnows. I heard something behind me, and then I spotted a Moccasin right behind my on the riverbed side. I didn't know how to identify it, but all's I know is that i'm so glad I spotted it at that moment or it could've ended terribly.

I've been following this channel since you had 50k subs. Absolute legend

You are a legend. Thanks for this incredibly useful video. Water snakes can look so so much like a moccasin.

Coyote rlly deserves his own show on Netflix or sum like that

Live in Florida, so I've seen my fair share of moccasins. That being said, ran into my first watersnake a day or two ago in the backyard. Let it leave in peace but would have caught it had I been wearing more than a towel.

As an avid angler in the Texas hill country I've had my fair share of running into hundreds of snakes. I've had a water mocosin chase a top water frog all the way up to my kayak. It was TERRIFYING. I hate snakes

Brave wilderness is one of my favourite channel. This channel is doing a great job. Anyone can get a lot of information from this channel.

Nearly stepped on a water moccasin yesterday. I'm really surprised how calm it was. I've always heard that they're hyperagressive, but this one just sat there, opening its mouth as a warning.

The close-up on the cottonmouth's face during the side-by-side :'D She's like "wtf are these fools doing"

When I was young, my younger cousin and I often hit the creek near our houses. Setting up natural traps to capture minnows and such. I remember a time when we were barefoot in the water, and I was lifting rocks in search of something cool. Under one, was a small snake with a big attitude. The scales were dark, camouflaging quite well with the environment. Of course, it became defensive and hissed at me. Only to flee downstream right after. Until then, I had never heard of a water moccasin. But when that mouth opened, I knew it was dangerous. The head appeared very similar to that of a viper, which is another you don’t want to be bitten by. Not only that, but it had to have been young. Therefore, it could have released more venom than it needed to, resulting in greater danger. Thankfully, it didn’t strike me. Knowing how I was, I probably wouldn’t have thought much of the bite until it was too late. Snakes are just as beautiful as other creatures, just educate yourself because ensuing such.

Coyote: sees deadly snake that could kill you with one bite and is calm
Also Coyote: Scared of giant desert centipede

My friend actually caught one of these in his hand and I got to touch it. I had extreme caution about the snake though.

Coyote: he accidentally got my thumb
Snake: Oh buddy, it was no accident

Fantastic camera work!!!
Thanks guys, what a great and informative video.
Personally, I think this should be played in the local school systems ..

This man is risking every moment of his life just to save ours 👍

“I am going to gently get a position behind her head”
*proceeds to squeeze it*
Edit: I had a feeling as soon as he let the moccasin go it was gonna bite him but he used the stick

My kids and I watch all your videos. Thanks for what you do!

I love the way you put the animals back where you found them and you don't hurt them.

I rescued what I believe was the same kind of water snake on a disc golf course in Houston. I was casually walking up to the #8 basket at Agnes Moffitt Park when I saw a small 12" dark-colored snake coming right at me. I bent over to make sure it wasn't a water moccasin, then reached down to grab it. It struck at me several times, which felt like getting hit with a feather, but once I got it in my hands, it calmed down just like the one in the video did. I released it in a wooded area nearby, and while walking back I noticed that I was bleeding in about a half dozen places. He must have nicked some capillaries, but there wasn't the slightest pain. A full-grown water snake would certainly have bitten me much worse.

I think I saw a cottonmouth on the side of the road when I went fishing yesterday. I was riding in the car and I saw a dark brown snake in the middle of the road. It was right next to a swamp and it was curled up into a ball

You mentioned the pits on the cottonmouth and the generally wider body along with the head shape. You also pointed out the venomous vs non-venomous pupil shape which only holds true in North America. You failed to mention the belly scales which turn into a double row between the cloaca and the tail tip on non-venomous snakes.

Coyote: asks out girl gets rejected.
Also coyote: we have just entered the friend zone

I love his adventures and he never gives up even if he's in the worst problems

Older video but first time seeing this one. Great info thanks Coyote.

I just imagine the snake when Coyote hooks it like, "How DARE you, I am VENOMOUS."

Snake back to their familes: Honey you won't believe who i met.

wow.. this is amazing. Now that i have found this channel there's no going back

My brain when seeing Cottonmouth: Deadly
My brain when seeing WaterSnake: Deadly

"They have no interest in chasing"
My experience says different....Those things can be super aggressive....

3:19 I love how much you care for him

the banded water snake looks like its smiling! adorable

One thing that scares me most about cottonmouth snakes, is that they're also curious and can try to get into your boat, especially flat bottom boats.

This guy should get a reward for not clickbaiting In each of his vids

I love finding common water snakes. They chill out so fast after you let them weave through your fingers for a minute. I’ve never been bitten by one, but I have been bitten by a sassy little garter snake

Give this man a show he is my gen of Steve 😂 .

I wish he could do a feature about the snakes native to my area!!! That would be the coolest!!!

Living in south Alabama, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost stepped on moccasins just going about my day lol.

Random lottery if it's venomous or non venomous
Coyote: Jumping around grabbing snakes with bare hands.

I love you’re vids this video reminds me of when I went rattlesnake hunting me and my dad and my friend found 2 rattlers

Coyote has the biggest balls I swear! So brave! Very inspiring!

Found one of these snakes, and now that I have watched, I know it's a cottonmouth snake, thank you!

The moccasin looks so much more vicious! His angry face hahaha

I live in an area in a creek surrounding the neighborhood filled with cotton mouths or water moccasins no joke, my area in Virginia is FULL of snakes

At 4:19 just as he says "ha!" the water moccasin opens its mouth, looks like the snake is saying it. LOL, good times!

Love the show! What's that hole that LOOKS like a pit on the water snake?

Coyote: “What we don’t want to do is step on a snake..”
Also Coyote: *intensely looks up at trees*

I'm a student at UCF, and for a Biology project, we had to identify a bunch of different species of plants, animals, and fungi. I wanted to show off to my bio professor (who is a herpetologist), so my girlfriend and I were able to track down a snake beneath the surface of a creek under some large leaves. We were pretty sure it was a banded watersnake by the patterns, but we weren't 100% sure, so we were able to ease out its head just enough for me to see the pupils and say that it definitely was a watersnake. My girlfriend grabbed it and tried to handle it, but it was thrashing around a LOT so she let it go pretty immediately (she also wasn't totally confident in my identification, so she wanted to let go to make super sure)

you’re really brave and my favourite channel I always love the fact that you say in your videos I love your channel and a good line stay brave and keep wiled

I love snakes even though I've never seen a real one.They look cute but I'm kind of hoping that poisonous snakes don't bite.It'd be terrifying .

“I don’t imagine any watching getting face to face” sir, you underestimate your viewers. Lol

My god Coyote is getting so popular these days, Hes on top 5 trending everytime he posts a video

How to learn if the snake is harmfull or harm less
Harmfull: looks like a cat
Harmless: looks like a dog
😂✌🏻

Damn i didnt know that i know my snakes 😂😂 you was showing a close up of the cottonsnake and i was thinking it looks like a pit viper and 10 secs later it is a pit viper

Coyote is very knowledgeable, reminds me of the God father of the wild, Steve Irwin

I have noticed a slight difference also in how they move across the water. Water snakes you'll see it's head above water and maybe a small portion of its body, but a Cottonmouth will have its entire body puffed up gliding across the top of the water. Whole body. Head a few inches out the water. Almost confident/cocky that nothing will mess with it. Just something I've observed while fishing here in Arkansas

"I am gently going to grab its neck"
*Crushes it gently*

Me and my dad were walking through the woods and I headed a little hiss then I looked down and there was a massive moccasin right at my feet and we filmed it crawling away it was awesome

Me watching this video and wondering if I could find a snake In my backyard 🤣

I've noticed that water snakes are very aggressive compared to other species that we have in Michigan. We have a couple different species and if you pick them up they will bite you every time

Water moccasin: Wow, I've never hung out with one of these 2 legged things before. This is so cool.

A few moments at 4:13 when coyote was like "ha" the snake opened his mouth and it looked like the snake was talking 😂

5:56 I even saw the water snake had a good little smerk on his face he must be really happy to see humans and maybe hes not that old and hasnt seen humans before

That snake at the beginning though I got the fright of my life lol 😂

I was walking in a river and one of those non-venomous snakes was wildly slithering away from me. They just would like to stay away.

The way he just handles that snake like it’s nothing haha

Coyote: He Accidentally got my thumb
Snake: It wasn't an accident 😂😂😂

How tight do you squeeze a snakes head ? lol I’m curious. it looks like you have to choke them to get them to be calm 😂😂

dude I'm so glad I watched this I learned a lot cuz I swear I lived by these water moccasins

i always watch your vids bc i love to learn new things

I'm getting chills on this and the way the snake just tried to bite the dude just- NO dude and why are ya'll looking for dangerous snakesthis got me bad-

It’s really interesting how there are so many differences between these snakes.

I love that Mario and mark are fine being a cameraman for COYOTE it would be insane

I’m surprised that when you pick up snakes with there necks they can breath cause you would think they can’t breath right?

Nothing is more entertaining than someone who clearly loves wild animals playing with wild animals. I haven’t seen this level of enthusiasm since the late, great Steve Irwin.

Coyote:leans hand to get the snake*
The snake:your finger no more

Thanks for making this video! It really helps us learn more about different animals!

You seen to be so brave I wish I am brave as you❤️

I watch his channel frequently to make sure he is alive lol

personally coyote I think these videos are a lot more daring and cooler than the bite videos