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Myself, I have seen scores of water snakes but only a few Cottonmouths. If you should see a Cottonmouth it will likely open it's moth to reveal the white inside. This is the best way to identify this snake because the markings on a mature snake are often hard to make out as they become almost uniformly dark with age. The young are lighter and clearly marked and look something like a Copperhead (to which they are closely related) with yellow at the tip of their tail. They are rather short for their broad bodies rarely reaching 180cm (5'10") in length and more typically just over half that size.
While they will not attack a human unless provoked, if surprised, they may stand their ground for a time before slinking off
and hiding. Their bite is worse than that of a Copperhead but not as bad as a Rattlesnake and is seldom fatal to adults who
get treatment but like all pit vipers the venom flowing in the blood stream kills flesh (necrosis) along the way making a nasty
wound. This species of snake is actually considered fairly good natured and tolerant of humans and is kept as a 'pet' by
some herpetologist.