The Water Snakes 



e. Yellowish-brown, with chestnut-brown 

 bands crossing the body all bands dis- 

 tinct. Florida. 



/. Pale green, with jet-black cross bands 

 representing the most showy specimen of 

 the species the writer has ever examined. 



On young specimens the pattern fades rapidly during their 

 second summer. 



Head markings. The head markings of adults are fairly 

 constant. The top of the head is dark; there is a yellow band 

 running from behind the eye to the angle of the jaw. The lip 

 plates (labials') are yellow, with dark borders. Rather in contrast 

 to the dull surface of the body, caused by the coarsely keeled 

 scales, are the smooth head-shields, which are highly pol- 

 ished. 



As this snake is frequently confused with the poisonous 

 Moccasin, with which it associates in the Southern swamps, a 

 few words concerning the distinction between these reptiles, 

 may not be amiss. The harmless water snake is more slender 

 than the poisonous reptile, and may be told at once by the red 

 spots on the abdomen; the undersurface of the poisonous snake 

 is straw-colour, with black or gray spots on younger individuals, 

 but indications of red spots are never present. Another impor- 

 tant distinction appeals to the arrangement of the plates under 

 the tail. With the harmless reptile these plates are arranged 

 in two rows, from the base of the tail to the tip. With the ven- 

 omous reptile, the plates are in a single row, for nearly two-thirds 

 the length of the tail, while the remaining third to the tip shows 

 a double row. (Illustration; Tails). Moreover the poisonous 

 snake possesses a large pit between the eye and the nostril which 

 is not present with any of the innocuous water snakes. It is 

 useful for the student to have a thorough knowledge of ^hese 

 structural differences, for by them, the dangerous "cotton- 

 mouth" may at once be told from the several species of harm- 

 less aquatic snakes of the South that appeal to it in colouration 

 and form. (Illustration; Heads). 



Dimensions. The Banded Water Snake is one of the larger 

 species of the genus, often attaining a length of four feet. The 

 figures given, of an adult specimen from Hampton County, South 

 Carolina, represent an average size: 



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