2006-12-12 15:42:23 · 6 answers · asked by HARPO 1 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Cottonmouths rarely exceed 4 feet in length, and the longest might reach 5, but that's pushing it. Snake stories are usually exaggerated because people aho are unnaturally afraid of snakes feel better about themselves the more intimidating their enounter was. Their fear also gives them the optical illusion that the object of their fear is larger than it actually is.
This phenomenon made sense to me after I got over my spider fear. Not making this up -- when I was young I was very afraid of spiders and the like, and I remember barn spiders, daddy longlegs, and wolf spiders that seemed gigantic, and I would have sworn to seeing specimens the size of silver dollars. As I grew older and began studying biology, I got over my fear of spiders and I remember searching for info on barn spiders, daddy longlegs, house spiders, and other arachnids that were common to my area. I found their adult sizes to be much smaller than the giants I remember from my childhood. And I have encountered all of these species many times now as an adult, and I always hope to find a massive one to at least confirm what I saw back then. But alas it appears it was only the effect of fright getting the better of me and distorting my sense of perception. Which makes me think... it's a good thing I didn't run into any garden spiders or tarantulas (which in fact ARE bigger than silver dollars) in my childhood. I may have been scarred for life! :)
Later.
2006-12-13 05:12:43 · answer #1 · answered by stickboy_127 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would have to say that's bs... a 9 foot snake can't weigh 100lbs, probably more like 40 or so. That also sounds pretty big for a cottonmouth.
Just a side note for StickBoy- I spent a few years of my childhood in Panama and Texas, and unfortunately, I DID encounter some pretty humongous wolf spiders and tarantulas- and I am most definitely scarred for life!
2006-12-14 07:59:12 · answer #2 · answered by Dreamer 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think some one was pulling a fast one. I have never seen a cotton mouth over 5 feet long. I don't know where you heard this but if they have hard evidence that there is such a thing of a 9 foot cotton mouth then I would love to see it.
2006-12-13 06:09:46 · answer #3 · answered by xxmack675hpxx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i haven't heard of this before now, I didn't think that a cottonmouth could get over 3 ft, they are short, fat snakes
if somebody really found one this large, it must have been
100 years old
2006-12-13 03:07:51 · answer #4 · answered by Loollea 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yeah right bs
2006-12-13 16:56:15 · answer #5 · answered by mountain bike man 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bull ****!
2006-12-13 15:02:39 · answer #6 · answered by rock 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋