[bowbenderpa01]

Photo taken by a friend this past weekend and sorry it's not the best.

Curious as to what it is.

Thanks

 

[bohunr]

ITS A SNAKE !!

 

[bohunr]

okay from what i can see if this was taken in PA its most likely a banded watersnake. non-poisonous but mean as Heck, they like to bite just for fun.

then again it could be a copperhead depending on where it was seen in PA

if the head is triangular shaped its very likely poisonous if the head is normal snake shape its non poisonous but a mean as heck watersnake

 

[Little Big Man]

Markings look like a northern water snake to me.

 

[bowbenderpa01]

Photo taken in Hubbard, Ohio which adjoins the PA line near West Middlesex in Mercer County.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[rugered]

Northern Watersnake – PA HERP IDENTIFICATION

 

[tealdawg]

water snake....not a copperhead

 

[huntr4477]

Northern water snake

 

[beavsteve]

That is a huge one!

 

[bohunr]

one of the meanest snakes around here.

 

[RegularJoe]

We have them in abundance on my land, and they are ill tempered for sure.

 

[Mugs's Buddy]

Brown banded watersnake. Here is a decent photo of one.

 

[ruger300]

I hate snakes!

 

[RegularJoe]

Mug, i Google brown banded water snake and it shows them as a tropical snake from Trinidad Tabago region. Too cold up here for them I'd think. I think the Northern water snake is what they actually are.

I don’t tolerate them in our pond where we swim.

 

[NiteSniper]

When I was a kid, I was laying on the ground shooting my pellet gun one day. I caught a little motion to my left.. when I turned to look, I was face to face with one of those suckers .. it’s head was upright and sticking its tounge out at me and definitely within striking range. As aggressive as they are, I dnt know what stopped him from biting that day.

 

[ChrisLD]

Saw one swim into a hole I was fishing and start attacking trout !

 

[Mugs's Buddy]

Mug, i Google brown banded water snake and it shows them as a tropical snake from Trinidad Tabago region. Too cold up here for them I'd think. I think the Northern water snake is what they actually are.

I don’t tolerate them in our pond where we swim.

I got that name from a herpetologist I took a college course from back in the 1960s. That is what he called the one I found under a rock in a small stream near Shippensburg. It bit me when it wokd up from hibernation. There are a bunch of common names I found for the northern watersnake. I don't use google, but use another search engine.
There is also a watersnake in tropical north and south america that is commonly called "brown banded." This is a good reason for using scientific names instead of common names. This one is Nerodia sipedon sipedon. no confusion there.

 

[Hunterfisher]

Northern water snake.

I’d say 99.9% of the time a person claimed to see a copperhead it was actually a northern water snake.

they are definitely aggressive. One time we were catching sunfish and the snakes were grabbing the as we reeled in

 

[RegularJoe]

I'm no Herpetologist and am not arguing that i know better than anyone. I found Helicops Angulatus commonly called brown banded watersnake, and not native to PA. You can call them anything you want. I call them trespassing when they hit my pond.

 

[capt rudy]

I agree with Joe