Northern water snake The belly also varies in color. It can be white, yellow, or gray. Usually it also has reddish or black crescents. The northern water snake is nonvenomous and harmless to humans, but superficially resembles the venomous cottonmouth and is often killed unnecessarily as a result of this mistaken identity. The two can be easily distinguished by morphological traits: the water snake has a longer, more slender body and a flattened head the same width as the neck, round pupils, and no heat-sensing pits. The cottonmouth has a fatter body, a wedge-shaped head with prominent venom glands that are wider than
Burmese keelback water snake the population of the species is unclear due to the wide range of their habitat, and size and trends are currently unable to be determined. However, the snake is known to be rare, as only a single specimen was discovered in 2010 during a twelve year survey in Myanmar. The area surrounding the Irrawaddy River has undergone intensive deforestation and land conversion for cultivation and agriculture. The extent of the impact upon the species, if any, remains unknown despite the continuance of the changing nature of the landscape. Burmese keelback water snake The Burmese keelback water snake ("Xenochrophis bellulus") is