When I saw this guy crossing the road there was a truck behind me and another car coming the other way. I only caught a glimpse and noted it *seemed* to be coming from a pond. I almost didn't bother turning around since (1) I reasoned it to be a Cottonmouth and (2) it was probably going to get hit anyway. I was not only wrong on both counts, but--even better--it turned out to be a new county record!
A very nice lady came from her house and talked with me as I took numerous pictures. She made claim to have never seen this kind of snake before, but said she saw "coontails" all the time. Hmmm...
Here is the typical defensive posture for the species. It didn't hiss too loudly though and never did play dead for me, but it did do the "cobra act" quite nicely.
