kirk57
Junior Member
Seems like around here, every redneck grows up with tales of encounters (usually violently triumphant) with cottonmouths and copperheads.
One major inconsistency with this is that neither of those snakes are endemic* to southwestern Ohio. The only venomous snake we have is the massasauga rattlesnake, which is threatened, and I'd be over the moon to see one.
*I have heard credible reports of timber rattlesnakes well north of town, but I'd rate such an encounter as exceedingly uncommon. Similarly, I wouldn't completely shocked to see proof of a copperhead, though I feel certain that the slackjaws have been slaughtering legions of non-venomous snakes in their stead.
I spent much of my youth in rural Kentucky and heard stories of Cottonmouths, Copperheads and the occasional Rattlesnake, but in 7 years of living deep in the woods on a lake, I never saw one venomous snake. Lots of other ones, but nothing venomous. Either those snakes are pretty shy or rare or I'm just lucky...