Are juvenile cottonmouths usually docile?

I don't know if they're docile, but I believe they pack a much heavier punch when they do strike. Something to do with not being able to control the amount of venom? I remember having the same issue when I was a teenager too...

should have killed him, the women seen it and didn't want it killed etc. Didn't think it was venomous at the time, but this fricker was crawling right where my kids were walking at back of camper and 5 feet away from my lab.

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Something to do with not being able to control the amount of venom?

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Correct. It is very expensive for a snake to make the venom so the older, more experienced ones may give a dry bite so they can give out their warning without wasting venom that they'd rather use on prey. Young snakes just unload everything as they haven't learned that fine motor control. Studies in some snakes like the timber rattler show that the venom can actually become more virulent as they age.

he wasn't old enough to know he is required to be a jerk...probably could have picked him up

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uncle who's petrified of snakes

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did pick him up

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We have a different definition of petrified

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Not quite. Immature venomous snakes' venom packs a bigger punch per unit than adult snakes. This is simply because they have evolved to do so since they can't store as much venom when young.

However, adult snakes are always more dangerous due to the quantity of poison they can inject.


I think that is right anyway...

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i always read it was because they cant control how much they inject. And the poison in a juvenile is the same as in an adult. The adult is just able to control how much it at all there for you are more likely to get a dry bite.

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