BROOKHAVEN — Snakes are on the move with warmer weather and Jay Perkins came across a fat cottonmouth last Monday. The snake was on Brignall Road by a pond. 

Perkins said he was fishing when he watched the snake slither to the pond’s bank and sit there. Cottonmouths, or water moccasins, make their homes near water. 

They eat fish, frogs, snakes and other reptiles, small birds, and mammals. They can become irritable when cornered and show their cotton white mouth when threatened. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks recommends people treat all snakes found in water areas with caution. Perkins decided to take action so he could resume fishing. 

“He sat there when I was approaching. I trapped it with a rock and then started poking it with my sling blade,” Perkins said. “I was fishing at first until I saw it. It was so big I was like ‘I can’t let him just be around here.’” 

Other venomous snakes can be found in Lincoln County include pygmy rattlesnakes, canebrake rattlesnakes, coral snakes and copperheads. Mississippi is home to six venomous snakes and 49 nonvenomous snakes. 

MDWFP encourages people to leave snakes alone when they encounter them due to the role they play in the ecosystem. Non-venomous snakes can also be confused with venomous snakes. Snake bites can also occur when a person is trying to kill a snake. 

Physician treated venomous snake bites have a mortality rate of less than 1 percent.