Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Story: Girlfriend visiting family in Dallas and took this picture of a snake she found swimming in a small stream. She described it as having a wide checkerboard pattern that forms Xs. Of course I only know Va native herps. Problem is, she has no access to a computer and this picture was taken of the camera's small LCD with a camera phone! Haha, I love these kinds of IDs. Looks like one of the Nerodia sp.

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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

... nature has ceased to be what it always had been - what people needed protection from. Now nature - tamed, endangered, mortal - needs to be protected from people. When we are afraid, we shoot. But when we are nostalgic, we take pictures.
Susan Sontag

looks like a diamondback water snake
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

>>looks like a diamondback water snake
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>>...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Thanks for the ID. The pictures I saw before posting really didn't show the same pattern. My gf is new to herpetology, so is learning how to deal with overzealous people telling her what they think it is. Uncle's claim: a rattlesnake!
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

... nature has ceased to be what it always had been - what people needed protection from. Now nature - tamed, endangered, mortal - needs to be protected from people. When we are afraid, we shoot. But when we are nostalgic, we take pictures.
Susan Sontag