This snake was sighted about a week ago in Burlington NJ by one of my readers. Can anyone here identify the species? Please place your guesses in the comments:
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I am the Online Community Manager at PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science). My job is to try to motivate you to comment on the papers there. My scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism), with additional interests in comparative physiology, animal behavior and evolution. You can contact me at: Coturnix@gmail.com
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Is there a herpetologist in the house?
Category: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Posted on: July 6, 2008 12:59 PM, by Coturnix
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Life Science
Comments
My (mostly uninformed) guess would be a water snake.
Posted by: John | July 6, 2008 1:25 PM
Would it be a copperhead? (A 'non-herpetologist with Golden Guide' assessment.) The guide says not usually found near water though....
Posted by: Adrian Thysse, FCD | July 6, 2008 1:30 PM
As a non-herpetologist, I'm going with southern copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix. Sure, it might be a nonvenemous snake that superficially resembles a copperhead, but better safe than sorry.
Posted by: HP | July 6, 2008 1:35 PM
Looks like a corn snake to me...see:
http://www.pitt.edu/~mcs2/herp/snake.pics/corn.gif
Posted by: ornatalover | July 6, 2008 2:13 PM
I would also guess copperhead. Its head looks like that of a pit viper to me. There are several subspecies of copperheads in the US, and I think the patterns can vary accordingly. Venomous, but not especially aggressive.
Posted by: Barn Owl | July 6, 2008 2:14 PM
I would say not a copperhead. On copperheads, the dark spots look to wrap up from the belly, not down from the back. They look more like boas with shiny heads.
I'm going with a banded water snake.
Posted by: Stephanie Z | July 6, 2008 2:34 PM
I also guess cornsnake.
Posted by: bill | July 6, 2008 2:41 PM
I assume that by "water snake" Stephanie and John are referring to the Northern Water Snake, Nerodia sipedon (with common names it's hard to tell).
But if you look at the shape of the head of Nerodia s. here, and compare it to the top photo, they're very different. Nerodia's head is barely distinguished from its body, and the markings extend right up to the skull, with no discernible "neck." Not the same snake.
Again, I hesitate to speak with any authority, but Coturnix's mystery snake looks like a pit viper to me. I suppose it might be a water moccasin or other closely related N.A. pit viper, but it's definitely not a colubrid.
Snake markings and coloration are highly variable, but the skull shape is more distinctive.
Where's Darren Naish when you need him?
Posted by: HP | July 6, 2008 3:22 PM
That is definitely Nerodia sipedon. No question.
Posted by: Strider | July 6, 2008 3:25 PM
Well, the herp-in-chief is at work, and he will give his opinion as soon as he comes back home, but let me tell you that mole kingsnake, Lampropeltis calligaster, can so easily be mixed with copperhead, that it is not even funny. That was my first thought, but they are usually hard to find (the only one I've seen was dead on the road, in fact just ran over when I drove that road, and it truly looked like copperhead until we took it and closely examined).
Posted by: Tanja Sova | July 6, 2008 4:08 PM
I'm going with corn snake...
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | July 6, 2008 4:20 PM
I concur with corn snake (Elaphe guttata guttata), a.k.a. rat snake.
Posted by: Dave S. | July 6, 2008 5:31 PM
I'm pretty confident that this is the nominate race of the Northern water snake Nerodia sipedon.
Posted by: Darren Naish | July 6, 2008 5:36 PM
I'm also pretty sure its a northern water snake. I've handled them and I was always very careful with them. They're non-venomous but bite fiercely when threatened.
Posted by: Joseph O'Sullivan | July 6, 2008 6:38 PM
I'd have figured brown water snake too, but my knowledge of snakes is pretty weak.
BTW, isn't the brown water snake the one with a mild anticoagulant venom that causes their bites to bleed for a long time?
Posted by: Julie Stahlhut | July 6, 2008 7:02 PM
Herp-in-chief is back home and says Northern Water Snake.
Cheers
Posted by: Tanja Sova | July 6, 2008 9:00 PM
The Nerodia contigent is correct. Very common in any body of water in New Jersey, and very nasty when captured.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | July 7, 2008 1:37 PM
Taxonomy hard. Snake pretty. :-)
Posted by: bill | July 12, 2008 6:26 PM