By Mary Reid Barrow

This handsome northern water snake is the snake that most easily can be confused with the venomous cottonmouth moccasin.

After Kathleen Rahman saw last week’s Nature Notes, her worries were eased about the colorful snake she had been seeing in her neighborhood. After reading about the cottonmouth’s ability to swim on top of the water, she became convinced her snake was non-venomous.

“Now that is surely what it is because it does NOT swim on top of the water…, swims with head out!” Kathleen wrote. “Less worry.”

The cottonmouth is the only venomous water snake in the area. The other two toxic local snakes are the copperhead and the canebrake rattlesnake.

You are most apt to confuse the cottonmouth and the northern water snake because the two have equally striking color patterns, though the patterns are different. Besides not swimming on top of the water, another id clue for the northern water snake is the dark and light banded moustache pattern around the top and bottom of its mouth.

You can often see these pretty water snakes, in spring swimming under the bridge at Beach Garden Park.

Another nonvenomous snake that folks sometimes confuse with a cottonmouth is the brown water snake, a much less colorful snake. Maurice Cullen, one of our local butterfly and snake experts, once told me to look for the blocky chunks of brown — no diamonds, chevrons or stripes — against a lighter brown body.

Kayakers sometime see brown water snakes, sunning out of the water, draped over tree branches.

Another big water snake you might come across often, especially in the ponds at First Landing State Park, is the once-called red bellied water snake. Now known as the plain-bellied water snake, these snakes have brown backs and orange bellies, as adults, and whitish bellies, as youngsters.

Even though the majority of water snakes you see are non-venomous, don’t think they are easy to get along with. Most are aggressive and will bite repeatedly if picked up. I have always imagined these beautiful snakes have feisty not-so-beautiful personalities, because fast moving fish are their main prey, and they are on high alert all the time!

Here’s a case in point, a photo, taken by Robert Brown, of a northern water snake dining on an oyster toad!