Barry Mansell photo.

Scientific name: Nerodia fasciata pictiventris

Description: Adults average from 24-42 inches (61-106.7 cm). The record is 62.5 inches (158.8 cm). Stout bodied snake with broad black, brown, or red crossbands over most of body. The lighter narrower bands are tan, gray, or reddish and may contain a dark spot on the side. The light bands may be broken by a black strip down the middle of the back. Crossbands may be obscured as snake darkens with age. Belly is creamy yellow with wormlike red or black markings. Scales are keeled and there are 23-27 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The pupil is round. A dark stripe extends from the eye to the angle of the jaw. Juveniles have very clear red or black crossbands on light background.

Kenneth L. Krysko photo.

Juvenile Florida banded watersnake.

D. Childers photo.

Adult Florida banded watersnake

H. Evereth photo.

Notice the dark stripe from the eye to corner of jaw.

Florida banded watersnake sitting with just its head out of the water.

Mattias Wramsmyr photo.

Florida banded watersnake: Left to right: Top of the head; underside of the head (chin and throat).

Florida banded watersnake: Left to right: Side of the head; front (face view) of the head.

Range: In Florida, this subspecies is found throughout the peninsula, excluding the Florida Keys. Outside the state it occurs in extreme southeastern Georgia and has been introduced to Brownsville, Texas.

Habitat: The Florida banded watersnake can be found in nearly all freshwater habitats, preferring the shallow waters of swamps, marshes, ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers.

Comments: . When threatened, the Florida banded watersnake defends itself by biting and smearing its tormentor with a foul smelling musk. Active mainly at night, but may be found during the day sunning on banks or on vegetation hanging over the water. Feeds on live or dead fish, frogs, and aquatic invertebrates. The Florida banded watersnake bears live young. Mating occurs mid-winter to spring and litters of 20-30 young are born in late spring through summer. The young are 7.5-10.5 inches (19-26.6 cm) at birth.

Comparison with other species: The brown watersnake (Nerodia taxispilota) has squarish dorsal blotches along its entire body. The midland water snake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis) has fewer than 30 darker brown crossbands near the neck, which break up into alternating blotches further down the body, and the belly is yellowish marked with two rows of half moons.

Florida banded watersnakes are harmless, though they have a mouth full of teeth and will bite viciously to defend themselves. Because they are found around bodies of water, watersnakes often are killed in the mistaken belief that they are the venomous cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti). Since cottonmouths can easily be distinguished from watersnakes there is no excuse for killing watersnakes out of confusion. The cottonmouth has a triangular shaped head and a vertical pupil. If the head is viewed from above, the eyes of cottonmouths cannot be seen while the eyes of watersnakes are visible; cottonmouths have elliptical pupils and watersnakes have round pupils; and cottonmouths have a facial pit between the nostril and the eye, while watersnakes have none.

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