I heard that to kill a cottonmouth you're supposed to grab it by the tail end and swing it around your head real fast and then smack it on a rock or tree.

Course, I never tried it

And, heck yeah, it's always uphill both ways here in the Ozarks, I'll testify to that, and the hills get taller as you get older too, and I know a bunch of old hillbillies that will back me up all the way on that