Snake business

The other day at Landa Park the kids and I noticed a snake. No, I'm not scared of snakes at all due to my upbringring, although I run away from roaches. I didn't say it was logical. Anyway, we kept a respectful distance away, well out of striking range, but I did point it out to Seth and we talked about it. It cracks me up. I'm sure most of the kids there will grow up terrified of snakes because of their mother's reactions. They were shrieking and making their children get back about 20 feet. Like it's some kind of amazing uber-snake that leaps great distances at people, away from its habitat, the water. Anyway. I couldn't tell while first looking at it whether it was just a water snake or a water moccasin - poisonous. So here's your snake lesson, you be the judge (Arwen, please have Randy look at this and give me the verdict!)

Here's the snake I saw:

Water snakes: non-triangular head. Usually long and skinny. Swims with only head out of water (I didn't get to see this one swimming). Can be banded. Round eyes.

Water Moccasins: triangular head. Has vertical slit-like pupils. Hour-glass banding. Can vary in color. Usually very thick for its length. Swims almost completely on top of water.

I know of a way to tell whether or not a snake is poisonous by looking at the underside of its tail, but I'm not getting that close if I'm not sure and it's not dead!

Diamond backed water snake (harmless)

Brown Water Snake:

Banded Water Snake:

Water Moccasin (venomous):



For the record, I am pretty sure it was just a Diamond backed water snake. We'll see what my brother Roger says - he's the resident animal expert!