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
Banded water snake 9 to 50. Newborns are 200–240 mm (about 8-9.5 in) in total length. The three recognized subspecies of "Nerodia fasciata", including the nominotypical subspecies, are: Some sources consider "Nerodia clarkii compressicauda" and "Nerodia clarkii taeniata" to be subspecies of "Nerodia fasciata". Also, some sources have considered "Nerodia fasciata" to be a subspecies of "Nerodia sipedon". Banded water snake The banded water snake or southern water snake ("Nerodia fasciata") is a species of mostly aquatic, nonvenomous, colubrid snake endemic to the central and southeastern United States. It is found from Indiana, south to Louisiana and east to Florida. Adults of the