Northern Watersnake. Non-venomous (harmless unless you consider a minor scratch from a defense bite "harm" ) Older specimens often show fading of the pattern of faint crossbands until the animal is essentially a solid brown or black snake. When wet, the effect is of a plain dark snake. The eyes set so far toward the front of the face are enough in this case to ID the snake as a watersnake. To read more about them, copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.michherp.org/nwaters.html

There are no Cottonmouths in New York. Cottonmouths are southern snakes, coming no farther north than extreme southern Illinois. Along the East Coast, they range only as far as southern Virginia. To read more about Cottonmouths, copy and paste this link into your browser: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agkistrodon_piscivorus

Many harmless watersnakes resemble Cottonmouths and may be generalized mimics of them. Watersnakes don't tolerate handling and will bite and smear droppings mixed with foul-smelling musk on an attacker. I like their attitude--if something the size of a skyscraper picked me up, I'd bite, too.

People who accept snakes as desirable wildlife consider watersnakes to be a good sign--an indication that the habitat is still healthy and relatively unpolluted. Enjoy them from a distance and respect their entitlements to live free and unmolested. They don't care about you at all but they are still valuable allies in maintaining Nature's balance.

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