Water snake?

Amiechan · #1 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 03:04 AM

I saw this guy lounging beside the creek in front of our apartment.
Kindof funny because we live in a fairly busy part of the town..lol..

snakemann6 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 03:42 AM

that looks like a moucsin or cotton mouth....but he is a pretty snake...

Hikoseijuro · #3 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 03:45 AM

its a water snake

nice one too what the sad thing is .. so many people kill them because they look like a cotton mouth ahh makes me want to hit anyone who kills a snake .. my brother hates them uses the saying .. only good snake is a dead one kills every one he sees .. he goes out of his way to run over them ..

well we get in to alot of fights over it too hehe im working on him :P atleast he does not do it near as bad as he used too

natedoggSXE · #4 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 05:36 AM

It is not a cotton mouth or water moucsin. It is a non vemonous water snake and depending on where you live its probably either a nothern water snake or a banded water snake. There harmless, but they can bite ya pretty vicisously. They are often killed for being thought of being a cotton mouth when in fact they are harmless beautiful snakes. They can live in urban environments better than most snakes speices and better than most animals speceis along polluted urban creeks.

BWSmith · #5 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 05:53 AM

Northern Water Snake

savannah_babe · #6 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 05:59 AM

bw is good

knew he needed to stick around for a reason

nice find amy---encounter anything else so far this year?

John_White · #7 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 10:25 AM

Stormyva · #8 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 11:53 AM

It's a shame that the differences arent more obvious to people.

Then again as a snake is shooting off through underbrush they tend to look very similar

savannah_babe · #9 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 12:12 PM

when you dont know any better, i could see how someone might think so. *shrug* it is a shame--but some will not listen..heh..

toker · #10 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 02:23 PM

wow, the difference is night and day.

BWSmith · #11 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 02:29 PM

Well, that is also a juvinile Cotton so it still has the bright colors. As they grow, Cottons darken a great deal.

morti · #12 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 02:40 PM

Hey Amy, the watersnakes that live right there next to Beargrass Creek are a naturally occuring integrade between northern and broad-banded watersnakes. Some of them you find look more like northerns and some look more like broadbands. We have caught and released a bunch of those. When I lived in that part of the complex, one of my favorite things to do was take a blanket and picknic lunch to the creek and watch the watersnakes while I ate.

snakemann6 · #13 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 02:44 PM

thanks for the information...that's why i stated my choice because of the fact that the bayous around are infested with water mocacusins and cotton mouths...i have seen and also had to unfortunately destroy a nest of them in my grandmother's water meter...we tried all that we could before resulted in killing of the nest but there were too many to move. We even call animal control they wouldn't do anything about it. The reason why it resulted to that is because my lil cousin attempted to pick one up, thinking it was a stick and had I not been outside he probably would have died because he so allergic to everything including himself. So again that's my rational about the whole situation....

Amiechan · #14 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 03:27 PM

Morti- You should come over to the creek some time. There have been a couple hanging out on the tree roots about every day this past week. I've tried catching one to get a better look, but they are so fast!
I think on Saturday I will go herping and see what else I can find this year..

morti · #15 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 03:53 PM

If you look really close up and down the creek, especially in the overhanging bushes and branches, you can occasionally find queen-snakes. They are much easier to catch and are pretty docile. Fun to play with and get pics of. Not a good snake to keep though because they only eat freshly shed crawfish. They have brown backs with bright yellow bellys and a redish colored stripe running directly down their belly. The only good way to catch those watersnakes is with a pair of tongs.

Amiechan · #16 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 03:58 PM

You and Michelle need to come herping with us

morti · #17 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 04:01 PM

Sounds fun. That little park (brown park?) over at Brown's lane and Bowling Blvd. also has Beargrass Creek running through it and some much better remaining habitat. You'll see more watersnakes, garters, and queen snakes. I have also seen some good looking habitat for milks and black kings, but I haven't ever found any over there. I keep flipping logs anyway though, just for good measure.

morti · #18 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 04:18 PM

Oh and BTW... In Kentucky, Cottonmouth's range is limited to the extreme western part of the state, close to the Mississippi river. There are bogs and pools there that they thrive in, but they are non-existant anywhere else in the state. The only venomous snakes you stand a chance of seeing here in Louisville are copperheads, and those sightings are fairly rare. Once you get outside the county, you can find copperheads and the occasional timber rattler. Not much in the way of hot herping around here.

pathfinder36 · #19 (**permalink**) 05-03-2004, 04:21 PM

I think the biggest difference is the head. The cottonmouth looks very intimidating. The northern water snake just doesn't. The cottenmouth will also have a much thicker body compared to its overall length than the water snake. The coloration can be almost identical though.

Bry · #20 (**permalink**) 05-04-2004, 06:38 AM

Anyone who says water snakes aren't as thick as cottonmouths hasn't seen the big water snake on crack that Brett and BW caught last year.

Bry

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