Florida Cottonmouth vs. Northern Cottonmouth

The two cottonmouths meet and mix across south Alabama; many snakes there are in between. A: Two dark vertical lines on the tip of the snout in the Florida Cottonmouth; plain, without dark vertical lines in the Northern Cottonmouth. B: A broad dark stripe through the eye with clear pale borders above and below in the Florida Cottonmouth; a dark mask through the eye, its pale edges faint or missing in old adults in the Northern Cottonmouth. Both are venomous: watch them from a distance.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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