The biologist helping with the pond cleaning by moving the turtles elsewhere is Matthew J. Aresco, a biology graduate student at FSU.  His advice on finding a snake that you think is venomous is to call him on his cell phone at 559-0483 or Jon Johnson of St. Francis Wildlife (386-6296) if Matt is unavailable. If your description is accurate they will come to remove the snake.

There are only four possible venomous snakes in Waverly:

• Cottonmouth
• Pigmy Rattlesnake
• Coral  (small,  red against yellow bands)
  
• Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

However, the habitat in the Waverly area is not suitable for the Diamondback, and the Pigmy's are very rare.  Coral snakes are also rare to see due to their secretive habits (hiding under leaves, etc). In the four years of the Lake Jackson project no Coral or Rattlesnakes have ever been seen.  The Cottonmouth is the only venomous snake that you would expect to find in our area. Their habitat is wooded wetlands (swamps with trees; streams going through woods).  Contrary to popular belief, these snakes do not have "dens" but use stump holes, root holes, undercut banks, or thick vegetation for hiding.  The banded watersnake (harmless,  Non-venomous) looks similar to the cottonmouth but is much more common and is often killed because people think it is a Cottonmouth. Of the 15 non-venonous snakes Matt has listed on his web page for the Lake Jackson area, all except the Florida green water snake, mud snake, and North Florida swamp snake could possibly be found in various habitats in Waverly. Of the critters they have rescued at Lake Jackson, the only one found that is poisonous is the Cottonmouth. The Florida Museum of Natural History of the University of Florida also has good information on snakes.