Hard to say with absolute certainty from that distance, but that looks to be a more "unicolored", more patternless Water Snake as well. If I could see the head closer it would definitely be more conclusive. Quite often, especially when much older, it's not uncommon for some water snakes to become very dull and their patterns can sometimes be extremely obscured and dificult to make out.

It could also be a Brown Water Snake (Nerodia taxispilota) with a much more obscured pattern as they typically have darker square blotches dorsally. They range up in that area too.

Oddly enough, here is a very young Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipendon) that displays very little pattern right from the start. These are also found in that area you mentioned. Harmless water snakes can sometimes vary drastically in their patterns (or sometimes even lack thereof).

Anyway, it looks like a harmless Water Snake (Nerodia ssp.) and not a moccasin to me from that distant pic. Thanks for posting those snakes..


Cheers, ~Doug

-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

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