Cottonmouths will flee before attacking humans. When it feels there is no escape, it will coil its body and open its mouth wide. The mouth is white and fluffy in appearance giving the water moccasin its nickname, the Cottonmouth. In only the rarest instances will the water moccasin actually bite. Like rattlesnakes, these reptiles are pit vipers and their venom affects both the circulatory and nervous systems.
Copperhead snakes are another easily recognizable venomous snake.
The snakes typically grow to three feet in length, their bodies marked by distinctive tan hourglass patterns. Their tails are usually tipped in green or yellow. Copperheads enjoy hilly areas from Massachusetts to Florida and Illinois to Northern Mexico. They are the final group of snakes in the pit viper family, but their venom is much less toxic than their cousins and rarely fatal. The final type of venomous snake in the US is coral snakes.