Eastern Cottonmouth Reproduction 
127 
this population is in jeopardy. Even though small cottonmouths (other 
than newborn individuals seen in autumn) have begun to appear in 1980, 
the population structure is skewed heavily toward longer and older indi- 
viduals. Local people kill many of these adults each year, along with 
many brown water snakes, Nerodia taxispilota, mistaken for cotton- 
mouths. I predict the species will become very rare at this site in the 
future. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. — I am grateful to Leann Blem, Claire 
Filemyr, Mike Miller, Cheryl Roeding, and Tom Thorp for assistance in 
the field. William Gutzke made the project possible through his extensive 
assistance in the field and laboratory and asked questions that stimulated 
me to find answers. Val Combs assisted in preparation of the manuscript 
and John W. Steiner and C. C. Steirly provided important suggestions or 
observations. Figure 1 is based on specimens loaned to me from the 
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, National Museum of Natural His- 
tory, and North Carolina State Museum of Natural History. 1 am 
indebted to the curators of these collections. Virginia Commonwealth 
University Computer Center provided computational facilities. Grants 
from the Virginia Academy of Science and the Virginia Commonwealth 
University faculty grant-in-aid program provided support for this 
research. 
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