--- title: "Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A swamp pit viper that warns with a wide-open white mouth and hunts on land and in water." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/cottonmouth-1.webp" published: "2026-10-12" updated: "2026-10-12" --- # Cottonmouth (*Agkistrodon piscivorus*) > **Status**: Checked against 7 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A swamp pit viper that warns with a wide-open white mouth and hunts on land and in water. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Classic Funk, Soul & Disco // KC & The Sunshine Band, "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/4mn7iv4DYJxPYbPy5R0nPE) > **Vibe Match**: A cottonmouth may shake its tail in the plants to make a rattlesnake-like sound, and young ones lure frogs within striking range by wiggling their yellow tails. KC & The Sunshine Band built a disco hit on the same instruction, repeated until the whole floor is shaking. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Agkistrodon piscivorus* - **Danger Level**: Deadly - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2007.rlts.t64298a12756313.en)) - **Superpower**: A heat-sensing pit on each side of the face and a wide-open white mouth shown to predators - **Habitat**: Wetlands, creeks, lakes and ditches, from southeastern Virginia to eastern Texas - **Diet**: Fish, amphibians, snakes, turtles, baby alligators, mammals and birds - **Tags**: reptile, venomous, wetlands, freshwater, infrared-vision, carnivore ## Natural History & Behavior ## A mouth like a cotton ball The cottonmouth, *Agkistrodon piscivorus*, is a venomous pit viper that lives in and around water. Its name comes from the inside of its mouth, which is bright white. When threatened, it may coil its body and open its mouth as though ready to bite, flashing that white lining. It may also shake its tail in the plants to make a rattlesnake-like sound, and it can spray a foul-smelling musk from a gland. Given the chance, though, it usually retreats. On its face, between each nostril and eye, sits a heat-sensing pit that is larger than the nostril. Warning displays are not the whole story. In a field study, cottonmouths with higher baseline levels of a stress hormone were more likely to strike than to put on a threat display when approached. > **Virgin birth in the wild** > In 2012, scientists reported the first cases of facultative parthenogenesis in wild-collected pregnant females, from two species: the copperhead and the cottonmouth. Facultative parthenogenesis is asexual reproduction by a species that normally has two sexes. ## Size and lifespan Cottonmouths measure 76 to 189 centimeters in total length and weigh 435 to 1,700 grams. Males are typically longer and heavier than females. The oldest cottonmouth on record lived 24.5 years in captivity. Not much is documented about how long wild ones live, and young cottonmouths suffer high predation. On average, just 2 to 3 young per clutch make it to adulthood. ## Hunting in two worlds The cottonmouth eats fish, amphibians, snakes, turtles, baby alligators, mammals and birds. It often waits in ambush. Young cottonmouths lure frogs within striking range by wiggling their yellow tails. In a lab test with mice and fish, strikes on land were considerably more successful than strikes in water. The researchers said the slower mouth closing underwater likely explained it. ## Where it lives, and what a bite means The Eastern cottonmouth lives from southeastern Virginia through the Carolinas and Georgia, and the Western cottonmouth from eastern Texas and Louisiana north to extreme southern Illinois and Indiana. Cottonmouths turn up in lakes, creeks and ditches, and even on river bottoms. Recent genetic studies show that the Florida cottonmouth is a separate species. A cottonmouth can bite, poison and potentially kill a human. Still, cottonmouths are generally secretive and not aggressive, so bites are rare. Cottonmouths and other pit vipers that bite in defense typically inject less venom than they would to kill prey. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How big can a cottonmouth get? The US Geological Survey puts their total length at 760 to 1,892 millimeters. The head is thick and clearly broader than the neck. *(Source: [USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database]())* ### How old is the oldest cottonmouth on record? AnAge lists a maximum longevity of 24.5 years, set in captivity, and rates the quality of that record as acceptable. *(Source: [AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources]())* ### How many babies does a cottonmouth have? Females give birth to 5 to 11 live young in late summer or early fall. Some females stay briefly with their young and give them some parental care. *(Source: [USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database]())* ## Sources 1. [Agkistrodon piscivorus. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 2. [AnAge entry for Agkistrodon piscivorus. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.]() 3. [Agkistrodon piscivorus (Lacepede, 1789). USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.]() 4. [Booth et al. (2012). Facultative parthenogenesis discovered in wild vertebrates. Biology Letters.]() 5. [Vincent, Herrel & Irschick (2005). Comparisons of aquatic versus terrestrial predatory strikes in the pitviper,Agkistrodon piscivorus. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Comparative Experimental Biology.]() 6. [Herr, Graham & Langkilde (2017). Stressed snakes strike first: Hormone levels and defensive behavior in free ranging cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus). General and Comparative Endocrinology.]() 7. [Hammerson (2007). Agkistrodon piscivorus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: e.T64298A12756313.]() *Published October 12, 2026. 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