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Saw a salt-water water snake last weekend in a Montauk lake, anybody with any info on this? It was black, about 4ft. long, saw it up close (with binoculars) about ten feet out from the shore, sorry no pics though. Spotted it initially when it was totally submerged underwater and then it poked it's head up several times but didn't run for cover at all when approached, just playfully dove in and out of the water. Definitely not an eel or otherwise - i'm very familiar with the snakes of LI, perhaps a type of Northern Water Snake?

Not much to go on in the field guides, nothing mentioned at all anywhere except a small bit of info in a few archives of a local newspaper. The articles did mention that this snake was found in the brackish lake where i came upon it. Supposedly this is a very rare sight on LI, no mention of the possible name of this though. Anybody have a clue?

If you couldn’t see any pale stripes running down the length of its back, it was most likely a northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon sipedon. They often appear dark and unpatterned as adults, particularly when not viewed “in the hand.” The only truly brackish water snakes occur in the southeastern US.

-Joan

Nope not a true N.Water Snake, at least not a typical one. The archives i've got specifically say salt-water water snake. The lake where it's found connects to the ocean at high tide. I guess there's simply not enough info on this anywhere. Thanks very much for the reply

M