Explain this at your next interview Sir

It was a near tragic case of mistaken identity, as two East Texas High School students are hospitalized after being bitten by a venomous snake in their science class at Big Sandy High School.
Yesterday afternoon around 12:30, a student brought a harmless rat snake to the high school lab. It was put in an aquarium with another snake that had been in the class since early in the school year. The teacher had originally identified that first snake was a yellow bellied water snake. Turns out, it was a water moccasin, and the snakes began fighting. So when one student reached in to remove the rat snake, he was bitten by the water moccasin.

Another student tried to help and was bitten also. They are both in the hospital getting treatments of anti-toxin and are very lucky things aren't a lot worse. KLTV 7's Bob Hallmark has more on how the boys are gong to be okay, but questions need to be answered on how a highly poisonous snake could end up in a high school classroom.

Students and teachers at the Big Sandy science lab thought they had nothing more than a harmless water snake, but when another snake was brought into class yesterday, they found they had something lethal.
"I received a phone call approximately 12:30 that 2 students were bitten by a snake," said Big Sandy ISD superintendent Scott Beene.
When a rat snake was put it into an aquarium containing another snake, the snakes began fighting.
"They were retrieving the snake out of the cage and that's when they were bitten," said Beene. "The snake that did bite the students was brought in earlier in the school year by a student, it was thought to be a non-venomous snake, obviously that was incorrect."
The snake that had been in the classroom all that time, was a venomous water moccasin, which many were surprised to hear had been in the classroom all along.

Both boys were rushed to a Tyler hospital.
Many in the community are concerned over how a venemous snake wound up in a high school classroom in the first place.
"We were unsure whether it was a venomous snake or non-venomous snake in the beginning," said Superintendent Beene.
Packing a powerful hemotoxin, the moccasin was misidentified by a teacher, who thought it was a water snake - a mistake the school will not make again.

"It could have been very tragic, we are very fortunate that the students are doing well," said Superintendent Beene.
We spoke with family members at the hospital on Tuesday who say the boys are recovering and receiving healthy doses of anti-venom, though one is in ICU under a 48 hour observation period.
Superintendent Beene says the school made a mistake, and that they will more closely monitor what is allowed and not allowed in the science classroom. Beene also said that he had been to see both students, and that the snakes have been donated to the Caldwell Zoo.

 

You know how snakes are, one head at one end, a tail right after the head till the other end, how the heck do you want to tell a snake from another snake?

 

Snakes are like mushrooms. Unless you really know what you are dealing with, you should stay away.

 

Agreed "Slipdigit"! The water moccasin, also known as the; "cottonmouth receives its name from the whiteness of the interior of its mouth that it exposes as a defensive display. This species is often confused with non venomous wate rsnakes, but water snakes typically flee immediately if on land or in a tree, usually going underwater, whereas cottonmouths frequently stand their ground and gape to deter a predator. Despite their aggressive reputation, research has indicated that cottonmouths will seldom bite unless stepped on or picked up. When not alarmed, cottonmouths can be readily recognized when swimming because most of their body is above the water's surface."

From:

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/agkpis.htm

and this site from Texas:

http://www.wf.net/~snake/moccasin.htm

I still cannot imagine how one ended up in a school room without having displayed its true colors long before this time period, and I also don’t understand how anyone, let alone a science teacher, could mistake its triangular pit viper head (the mark of a venomous species) for anything else.

And I agree with "dgmitchell" as well, our here in Montana we have two species of rattler, the timber and the praire. If you give them a wide berth they will leave you alone as well. I did have the opportunity to know a fellow who had developed an extreme tolerance for rattler venom though.

When he was about six, he was thrown from a horse and went into a coma. He "faded" in and out for nearly eight years, but when he did become ambulitory he had major brain disfunction. While he had been hospitalized, his little sister had been bitten by a number of rattlers while she was in her playpen in the backyard of their farm house. When Matt finally understood what had killed her, he took it on himself to rid the world of rattlesnakes.

He grew into a large teen and later adult, and he would simply walk around until he found a rattler, reach down, pick it up and pull it into two parts. Throw it down and walk on looking for another one. He had built up a tolerance to the venom and when he came home from his "hunts" his Mom would simply sterilize the bite marks and give him a meal.

 

[SIZE=+1]The Yellowbelly Water Snake is the harmless snake most often incorrectly referred to as a "water moccasin" (even though there is no such snake). This is because of its generally dark coloration and its irritable disposition. When threatened, Yellowbelly Water Snakes will behave like all other local harmless water snakes of the genus [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]Nerodia. [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]They will usually coil up and flatten out their head, making it look arrowhead shaped. However, head shape cannot be used to tell venomous snakes from harmless ones. They will also vibrate their tail, let out large amounts of foul smelling musk which smells like a skunk, and strike out repeatedly at whatever is threatening them. This defensive behavior often causes them to be mistaken for the venomous [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]Western Cottonmouth[/SIZE][SIZE=+1]. Since they are not venomous, though, treatment for the bite of a water snake usually involves no more than soap and water and a bandaid.[/SIZE]

the most common snake misidentification that occurs is between the Water Moccasin (Cottonmouth) and virtually any snake found in or near the water. View attachment 3889

 

That last post is stuff i found on the internet.Apparantly the unlucky teacher isnt the only one having trouble IDing snakes.

What most sites agree on that in the water if the snake seems to float or skim the water its a moccasin , if it is mostly under water its not.

Thats all good and well but what if you meet one on dry land ? Best advice ive seen is walk the oppisite direction on seeing any snake near water.

 

It may be true that most cottonmouths run from humans, but I guess I ran across one having a really bad day once. I was on a water mattress paddling across a lake when a water moccasin raised up it's head, opened it's mouth and chased me from the lake.

 

Im trying my best not to laugh..it is kinda funny but it must have been terrorising ...was this your snake?

 

No, not mine. I'm the type that prefers to steer clear of any snake-harmless or not.

 

Im with you on that one, its pretty freaky for me coming here from Scotland where we have just one deadly snake called the adder but you really need to go out your way to see one.Pretty rare but incidents happen regularly of bites.
I dont think many die of it tho.No poisenous insects or spiders in the UK either so you can imagine my terror at cleaning out the garage or clearing the eaves.
Theres a large pond on the property here , much neglected and trees overgrow the area , ive seen snakes there and turtles.When i tilled my veggie garden in spring there i came across a cheeky wee bugger of a snake.
Ive no idea what it was but it was willing to fight..a bit too willing.I was dislodging large stones and it appeared , none too happy either.
I tried to flip it away with the shovel but it was too quick for me and with the long grass and everything...yep i paniced and started swiping madly and blindly with that shovel.
Talk about shock and awe ..didnt compare to what i did to that snakes world.I still managed to miss tho and to shouts of "there he goes" i started slicing into the ground hoping to sever it in two or preferably more pieces.

Nup..it was fast man and i missed every time.It was coming at me rather than trying to escape..and i couldnt hit it..
I was trying too

I think it was trying to get back to the rock area and i was between it and its former home , one flip of the stick when i reveresed the shovel launched it skywards and into the woods..happy trails snakey