Black water snake
 

Yesterday Connie came into the house all excited about a snake she saw out by one of the buildings. She wasn't sure what kind it was, so she wanted me to hurry on up and get out there to see it before it vanished.

When I got out there, it wasn't where she had last seen it, but had moved about 6 ft or so along the wall of the building. Honestly at first I wasn't sure what it was, neither. At first I thought it was a hog-nosed snake, as we have seen them around here being pretty dark like that. But the head shape wasn't right. Certainly wasn't a cottonmouth, but I can see where Connie would have been a but cautious around it. Anyway, it didn't get too alarmed at out presence, only flattening it's head a bit when I got too close with the camera. Looks like it had piece of an eye cap on one eye, so possibly it just shed recently.

Not really any water real close by, but we do have a stream on the north end of the property. Maybe it is just the time of year for the snakes to be on the move around here.

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Seen them before. But they showed better stripes.

Actually, typically water snakes have very distinct banding. Sort of different shades of browns. I used to catch a ton of them when I was a kid living in Maryland. Until I got tired of them biting me and crapping all over me, that is.

I've only seen one or two like this, with nearly uniform black coloration. Most people likely would have killed it thinking it was a cottonmouth.

Beautiful looking specimen.........
No matter what it was, it could count on me to keep my distance...
I don't have ANY experience identifying snakes, so I try to stay a safe distance from ALL of them..........
Andy

That is the best way to handle it, Andy. Heck, I've been around snakes nearly all my life and this one gave even me pause trying to figure out what it was. A kid around here got bit by a pygmy rattlesnake a while back because he thought it was a harmless hognose snake and reached down to pick it up. And he has been around snakes all his life.

Besides simple misidentification, any species of snake can have genetically induced aberrant colors or patterns, making accurate ID difficult. Especially if you have to do so in a hurry. Many snakes are not going to stand still waiting for you to figure out what it is. Which works out fine for those people who go one way and the snake goes another. :)

I almost stepped on a big cotton mouth once while hunting. That snake was not gonna move. I was about 6" from stepping on him.

Yeah. Cottonmouths can sometimes be downright belligerent. Their gaping their mouths and showing their fangs is definitely a "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!" warning.

I've also been chased by black racers that got pissed off at me for bothering them.