Comparison with other species: The Brown Water Snake (Nerodia taxispilota) has squarish dorsal blotches along its entire body. Southern watersnakes are nonvenomous water snakes found in the southeastern United States. Notice that the head is also thick and blocky. It is typically gray, greenish-gray, or brown in color, with dark crossbanding. Northern water snakes can vary in their coloration, some more red than brown, some very dark, some very dull, but the pattern is the same. The range includes eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, southeastern Missouri, western Tennessee, western and coastal Mississippi, southern Alabama, southern Georgia, Florida, and most of the Coastal Plain of North and South Carolina. The Nerodia fasciata is a species of semi-aquatic, nonvenomous, colubrid snake.
The Northern Water Snake is a North American snake that has a large body. It is an excellent swimmer and can be found up to three metres below the surface of the water and several kilometres from shore.
Some references make much of the fact that a copperhead’s head is arrow-shaped or more broad than the non-venomous water snakes. The body of this young, venomous Water Moccasin is very thick for its length, and has a relatively short, thick tail.
As Northern water snakes age, the color darkens, and the pattern becomes obscure. The color of the Northern Water Snake means that it is commonly mistaken for the venomous Cottonmouth and the Copperhead, but it behaves very differently. Water snake (top) and copperhead. See the difference? The Northern water snake is a large, nonvenomous, common snake native to North America. While the venomous species are likely to bare their mouth to a threat, the Northern Water Snake will usually flee into the water rather than confront any direct threat. Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) New York - USA On land Found in southern Ontario and northeastern United States Tiger snakes are a highly venomous snake species found in the southern regions of Australia, this example is hunting for frogs at Herdsman Lake in WA. These snakes can be brown, gray, reddish, or brownish-black in color. The Midland Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis) has fewer than 30 darker brown crossbands near the neck, which break up into alternating blotches further down the body, and the belly is yellowish marked with two rows of half moons. It is a venomous species belonging to the Colubridae family with 4 recognized subspecies. They have dark crossbands on the neck and dark blotches on the rest of the body. A harmless snake the same length would be much more slender and would have a much longer, thinner tail (see below). The northern watersnake frequently basks in the open, often in large groups. Many specimens are so dark in color that their patterning is barely discernible.
Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata) Image Credit : La Ferme Tropicale. Although this snake usually swallows small prey head first upon capture, it may carry large fish to shore before consuming them.