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Northern Water Snake

Nerodia sipedon

Photo by NicholeSauve
Published on Project Noah
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44.421, -84.6761

Field Notes

Description:

Dark banded against brown background, sometimes appearing black. They are non-venomous. They are mistaken for "Water Moccasins" by many northern residents, but those are not native to Michigan or other northern areas. Water Moccasin is simply another name for Cotton Mouth, a venomous southern snake.

Habitat:

Shorelines of rivers, lakes, ponds basking by the waters or swimming.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)
NicholeSauve
Thanx! : ) It's my favorite snake, thus far anyways lol, at least in Michigan. Haven't gotten too many chances to work with or observe more exotic species except when I was younger. And yes, I agree, it is quite a shame about the confusion. It creates a lot of animosity toward any snake species. I've really enjoyed your snake spottings. You have a lot of great shots of beautiful species.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Great Lakes Monitoring
Mission
Reptiles of the World
Mission
Snakes of the World
Photographed
PublishedDecember 16, 2011

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