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 snake has been known to frequent wetlands and freshwater streams surrounding the Irrawaddy River floodplain, designating it as both terrestrial and aquatic, and is therefore believed to be extant at a low altitude. Due to status as a water snake, it is believed to be semi-aquatic, inhabiting both wetlands and river systems. The species is believed to be non-venomous, but due to a lack of encounters this has not been confirmed by herpetologists to date. If this hypothesis is proved correct, it is likely the bite of the snake would only cause mild swelling and localised pain. At present,