Old Timer Stories You've Wondered About

Now that I'm a dad teaching my kids about the outdoors and often telling stories of my own, I find myself remembering the tales older gentlemen told me when I was a kid.

One in particular not-too-tall tale that keeps coming back to me:

When I was 10, I used to run hoop nets with my great uncle, who did things the old fashioned way. We got our nets (hoop, shrimp, etc) custom built by this older guy who was a genuine swamp craftsman.

Whenever we'd pick up an order, he and my uncle would enjoy a beverage or two and he'd tell stories. The one that really stuck with me was one about snakes while building I-10. The old man stated that he was on the initial construction crews building I-10 (at least I think he was talking about 1-10) across the Atchafalaya - and the cottonmouths were so aggressive that they lost tons of men to snakebite.

He said that the snakes would practically sprint at them and they were almost constantly at battle for the first few weeks. They tried carrying pistols but no one was fast or accurate enough. Eventually they all carried machetes and had to master the swing at the swimming snake.

Any chance that this was a true story?

To this day, in my mid-30's, this tale of charging cottonmouths scares the shite out of me.