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
Brown water snake found in swamps and streams and is often mistaken for a venomous snake. "Nerodia taxispilota" is ovoviviparous. Mating takes place in the spring on land or on tree branches. On average adult females are larger than adult males. The young are born alive, usually in August, in broods of 14-58, more commonly 30-40. The newborns are 7-10¾ in. (18–27 cm) long, with males longer than females, opposite of adults. Brown water snake The brown water snake ("Nerodia taxispilota") is a large species of nonvenomous natricine snake endemic to the southeastern United States. "Lycodonomorphus rufulus" is sometimes also called the brown