It's that time again. Cottonmouths and Copperheads are becoming very active in northern Florida. July and August are the months that they give birth. If you're in the woods, stay alert, be aware of your surroundings. Don't be terrified ... be alert. Most of the horror stories you hear are ... well ... lies.
A lot of people I have met from southern states have a story about being chased by a Cottonmouth. Usually the people who have spent very little time in the woods are the ones who tell the most terrifying ‘tales’. 
After sixty years of living next to sinkholes full of water, overgrown with weeds, and plenty of Cottonmouth bait, I have spent many, many hours wandering around in sloughs gigging frogs, fishing in a small boat on the Suwannee River under the mossy oak trees hanging overhead, sloshing through floodwaters during Florida storms and hurricanes, working in the woods, clearing property in prime Cottonmouth real estate, and I have seen more than my share of Cottonmouths. I also see a lot of Banded Water Snakes, which frequently are confused for Cottonmouths by those who have not studied the snakes in our area. In my entire life, it’s totally possible that I’ve encountered hundreds of Cottonmouths. I’ve caught some, just to get to know them well. I have never been chased, not once. Cottonmouths can move very fast, but every time I've seen them move rapidly, they've been hauling ass away from the threat. 
It amazes me that almost every person you talk to who has been in the woods a time or two, will tell the story of being chased. I’m mainly talking about people who wander in the woods occasionally or by accident. Some mistake the snake’s attempt to flee as pursuit.
 But at the end of the day, there isn’t one video out there of a Cottonmouth chasing anyone. Not one. No nature show has ever recorded this. All the shows about hunters and fishermen and outdoors activity, nope, not a single video of a Cottonmouth chasing someone.
I've seen videos of a snake trying to get in boats but they normally try to crawl out of the water to sun, it's normal to get next to something warmer than the water.
 Since the beginning of recorded time, only four people have ever died from the bite of a Cottonmouth. If they’re chasing people, they suck at it. Or it simply isn’t true.
 The Cottonmouth is America’s favorite villain. Even in states well out of the range map of the Cottonmouth, people still tell the story of someone who “fell into a nest of Cottonmouths and was killed”. Yet the evidence that this story happened, or honestly, any of the stories told about Cottonmouths terrorizing innocent victims ever really happened, are like the rumors of unicorns. 
P.S. I have watched at least 4 or 5 videos of people terrorizing Cottonmouths and getting bit as their reward.
Here's a Cottonmouth displaying its threat pose when I got too close. This is how they got their name, incidentally. This one was about 4 1/2 feet long and it has been eating well.