Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my son and his buddy found a snake in our upstate NY yard (swamp area nearby). I do not have a pic but I will try to discribe it.
Juvinile(only about 8 in) , Black with a few white spots, white belly, wide triangular head, very aggressive. I made my hubby take it out to the edge of our yard and let it go - but I was wondering what it was. My son is 8 and loves catching all forms of wild life ( even though Mom makes him let them go.)
Please tell me what it was

From your description, I'd take a wild guess and say a water snake, but the description is pretty vague.
The following website should take you to a site that MAY help. If not, try googling "snakes of New York" or similar for photos and info.
http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/snakes/snakes.htm
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Jack Jeansonne

Did it, at any time, do anything like flatten out it's neck and point it's nose somewhat downward or roll over on it's back? The first thing that jumps to mind other than a water snake would be an eastern hognose, but I don't know offhand if they range into NY.

Actually, there's a good picture of a black one here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodon_platirhinos

With that description though, I couldn't rule out a black timber rattlesnake, although I don't think a juvenile would be that dark. Agin, I'm not sure if you're in their range. That would be the only possibility for anything dangerous.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

The black eastern hognose snakes vary somewhat. Some will have white markings on the back of the head and neck, and possibly down the back (just barely visible in the photo at the link I posted).
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

The Hog-nosed snakes do occur in Upstate New York but only toward the very south and are quite rare. I agree that the description is pretty vague but I'd almost say it was a juvenile gartersnake. The adults usually have a yellow stripe down the back but the younger ones often lack that field mark, would be blackish in color with light markings (sort of like a checkerboard pattern), and have a light-colored body.

>>The Hog-nosed snakes do occur in Upstate New York but only toward the very south and are quite rare. I agree that the description is pretty vague but I'd almost say it was a juvenile gartersnake. The adults usually have a yellow stripe down the back but the younger ones often lack that field mark, would be blackish in color with light markings (sort of like a checkerboard pattern), and have a light-colored body.
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Roberts Realm Of Reptile Research
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Thanks,

I opened my mouth and out flowed a melody black.

The last word of my paragraph should be "belly" and not "body"