Cottonmouths can be aggressive and may strike several times. They like to live near fresh water swamps, lakes, streams, and ditches. They have rings of red, yellow and black all along their bodies. Their noses are always black. They do not have long fangs and have to actually chew on you to get the venom in.
Many snakes look like the coral snake.
Red and yellow kills a fellow. Red and black is safe for Jack. Behler, John and King, F. Wayne. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians . Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1992.