Northern water snakes, mating

I came across these snakes while two males were attempting to mate with a female that had recently had a meal. Two more males were swimming along the shoreline near them. Unfortunately, the female was injured; she appeared to have a serious mouth infection and/or other injuries, although she was still slowly moving. Flies had laid eggs all over her head and neck and inside her mouth and she was unlikely to survive. According to the NC Museum of Natural Science’s herpetology collection manager, males would mate with an injured female since mating is all about scent and pheromones for them, and they would have no way of knowing or understanding the female was sick or injured if she smelled like a female. He said they will also mate with recently dead females.