Broad Banded Water Snake

Broad Banded Water Snake
Originally uploaded by Donna Manning

The kids and I took a "nature walk" today and stumbled upon this guy sun bathing. We were on a bridge and he was down below. That was a huge highlight for us today! Matthew said "COOLEST THING EVER!!" lol :-P

It's not common to see a huge snake just lazily lying around in the open (here anyway!). We have lots of snakes, they just tend to be shy ;-).

This was with my zoom all the way out, not the best photo but hey it's a photo!

I thought it was a water moccasin until I started researching, turns out it is commonly mistaken for one. It's not venomous though.

We were quiet for awhile so we didn't scare it, but once we started talking in normal levels he slithered off under the rocks.

Broad-banded Water Snake
Nerodia fasciata confluens
Nonvenomous

As with all snakes seen near water in the Harris County area, the harmless Broad-banded Water Snake is often incorrectly referred to as a "water moccasin." This is because of its generally dark coloration and its irritable disposition. When threatened, Broad-banded Water Snakes will behave like all other local harmless water snakes of the genus Nerodia. They will usually coil up and flatten out their head, making it look arrowhead shaped. However, head shape cannot be used to tell venomous snakes from harmless ones. They will also vibrate their tail, let out large amounts of foul smelling musk which smells like a skunk, and strike out repeatedly at whatever is threatening them. This defensive behavior often causes them to be mistaken for the venomous Western Cottonmouth. Since they are not venomous, though, treatment for the bite of a water snake usually involves no more than soap and water and a Band-Aid.

You will notice that Broad-banded Water Snakes do not have the wide, dark "raccoon mask" facial stripe seen on the cottonmouth. This stripe can also be seen from a good distance, making identification less likely to cause the snake to feel threatened.

Broad-banded Water Snakes are often found in yards when they attempt to find new water sources, especially if the yard is watered on a regular basis. Regular watering also attracts frogs and toads, which are a favored food item for these snakes. With these points in mind, you may want to consider watering the yard slightly less frequently if you do not want to attract these kinds of wildlife into your yard.

www.houstonherp.com/BroadBandedWS.html