What kind of snake is this? (lots of pics)

I was in maine smallmouth fishing and I saw this pretty big prob 4 foot snake in the water so i netted it (bad idea by the way took me like 20 minutes to get it out lol) and I got a bunch of pics of it but i have no clue what type of snake it was, do you guys know? I almost want one it was really a nice looking snake :).


p.s. I released it and it swam away:D
and i dont think ill be netting any snakes anymore haha i learned my lesson:banana:


http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...HPIM0159-1.jpg

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...9/HPIM0161.jpg

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...9/HPIM0153.jpg



http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...9/HPIM0146.jpg

It looks like cotton mouth. Someone else will definately let you know but I would not have pulled that out of the water lol. Or water moccasin. They look the same to me from a distance. I hope someone clarifys it for you. Just the shape of the head screams venomous to me. I dont know much about water snakes so I could be wrong. Someone tell me, are they the same snake? I was always confused by that.

Not positive, but it looks like a Northern Water snake to me. Non-venomous, and in the colubrid family if I remember rightly.

Musicalkeyes, is that the water snake that looks alot like the cotton mouth?

HAHA i had no idea that could have been venemous. i was sooooo close to getting bit like 10 times holy crap.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AWESOM-O 3000

HAHA i had no idea that could have been venemous. i was sooooo close to getting bit like 10 times holy crap.

---

I really don't think it is venomous, but it's definitely not a good idea to grab snakes out of the water if you don't know what they are.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

Musicalkeyes, is that the water snake that looks alot like the cotton mouth?

---

Yeah, they're mistaken for cottonmouths a lot. You can really tell by their eyes, though, the pupils are completely different.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AWESOM-O 3000

HAHA i had no idea that could have been venemous. i was sooooo close to getting bit like 10 times holy crap.

---

Do a google picture search for water moccasin or cotton mouth. You will see what I mean about how similer that snake looks to one. I couldnt quite remember what they looked like myself so I did a quick search. There is a water snake that looks just like the cotton mouth though. This is why I wouldnt mess with one. I wouldnt know which was which.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by musicalKeyes

I really don't think it is venomous, but it's definitely not a good idea to grab snakes out of the water if you don't know what they are.

---

ya ino its not. but ill still always grab one when i see one.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by musicalKeyes

Yeah, they're mistaken for cottonmouths a lot. You can really tell by their eyes, though, the pupils are completely different.

---

I wouldnt want to get close enough to the eyes to make that distinction LOL :O

i think i have a better shot of the head im gonna try to find it.

It looks like the brown water snake to me.If it was the cotton or water mocassin it would not let you get that close without trying to take your head off :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joepythons

It looks like the brown water snake to me.If it was the cotton or water mocassin it would not let you get that close without trying to take your head off :P

---

trust me it was trying to kill me lol. it was musking, striking, flattning its body everything it could do to try to get me it did lol

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s.../hxgnmghmn.jpg

water snake. =D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AWESOM-O 3000

trust me it was trying to kill me lol. it was musking, striking, flattning its body everything it could do to try to get me it did lol

---

Thats all? :rolleyes: Definitly a brown water snake :D

Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon sipedon. Watersnakes (which are not venomous) are often confused with the Water Mocassin or Cottonmouth which is venomous.

cotton mouth idk im bad with water snakes

It's a Northern Water Snake--a really big, beautiful one, too.

Cottonmouths don't LIVE in Massachusetts. ;)

There are only two venomous snakes in Massachusetts--the Timber Rattlesnake, and the Copperhead.

Water snakes are notoriously bad-tempered.

Edit: My bad, you were in Maine. Maine doesn't have copperheads, or timber rattlers. Or any other venomous snake species, for that matter, so feel free to go about your grabbing or netting with impunity. lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

It's a Northern Water Snake--a really big, beautiful one, too.

Cottonmouths don't LIVE in Massachusetts. ;)

There are only two venomous snakes in Massachusetts--the Timber Rattlesnake, and the Copperhead.

Water snakes are notoriously bad-tempered.

Edit: My bad, you were in Maine. Maine doesn't have copperheads, or timber rattlers. Or any other venomous snake species, for that matter, so feel free to go about your grabbing or netting with impunity. lol

---

I never believe the the stats of where animals are or are not anymore. Nuture moves all the time. Chicago doesnt have cougars but we had one a couple years ago. Rattlesnakes have been seen in grant park. Wolves are moving back into the area. There are armadillos EVERYWHERE in TN east of the TNN river. Then I find out they are great swimmers and over the years they crossed the mississippi and the TNN rivers. More common there than raccoons are in chicago. Eventually rattlers may be in main. They definately have the tolerance for the weather. Someday they will be there. Might take the venomous a bit longer. Ive picked up different snakes by my house but I would have been too nervous to mess with something that looks like that in the water. Kudos to the OP :P

If any rattlers do wind up in Maine, it will probably be just the Timber Rattlesnake. It's too cold for copperheads, much less water moccasins.

Since that snake doesn't look anything like a timber rattler, and rattlers aren't usually found swimming, it was a pretty safe move.

Also--armadillos are an interesting example of natural range expansion. They had planned to consider them an invasive species when a population was introduced East of the Mississippi, but when the Western population jumped the river BEFORE the Eastern population met up with it, I think they gave up the idea. Habitat alteration by humans in Texas led to the armadillo's escape from Mexico, and it's colonizing all suitable habitat rapidly. Conversely, the timber rattlesnake's habitat is in jeopardy across its range--it's not expanding. So it's highly unlikely that the remaining, dwindling populations of timber rattlers will find their way to Maine.

just a northern watersnake bro

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

I never believe the the stats of where animals are or are not anymore. Nuture moves all the time. Chicago doesnt have cougars but we had one a couple years ago. Rattlesnakes have been seen in grant park. Wolves are moving back into the area. There are armadillos EVERYWHERE in TN east of the TNN river. Then I find out they are great swimmers and over the years they crossed the mississippi and the TNN rivers. More common there than raccoons are in chicago. Eventually rattlers may be in main. They definately have the tolerance for the weather. Someday they will be there. Might take the venomous a bit longer. Ive picked up different snakes by my house but I would have been too nervous to mess with something that looks like that in the water. Kudos to the OP :P

---

haha i cant help myself if i see a snake i need to hold it.

On another note the thing was a GIANT though. Biggest wild snake ive ever seen. It was prob around 4 feet.

so the highjack noob post, no nothing about any water snalke, but as a kid my uncle said cotton mouth was a another name for water mocasin, so they are to diff, snakes, then. i've seen plenty of greenish-brown snakes basking on rocks before i thought were cotton mouths, also my highjacking can any snake beside sea-snakes completly swim under water

I've seen my ball pythons swim completely under water in the bathtub, so yes. lol

oh so i was complety off-track, thanx though, i've never seen someone sale or keep a water snake