Nerodia is a genus of non-venomous colubrid snakes commonly referred to as water snakes.
Nerodia species vary greatly, but all are relatively heavy-bodied snakes, sometimes growing to 4 feet or larger. They have flattened heads, with small eyes that have round pupils, and keeled scales. Species like N. fasciata display distinct banding, where other species, like N. erythrogaster have blotching, and N. rhombifer have diamond-shaped patterning. Mos...
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Nerodia is a genus of non-venomous colubrid snakes commonly referred to as water snakes.
Nerodia species vary greatly, but all are relatively heavy-bodied snakes, sometimes growing to 4 feet or larger. They have flattened heads, with small eyes that have round pupils, and keeled scales. Species like N. fasciata display distinct banding, where other species, like N. erythrogaster have blotching, and N. rhombifer have diamond-shaped patterning. Most species are brown or olive green, or some combination therein with markings being brown, or black. Yellow or cream-colored accenting is common.
Water snakes, as their name implies are largely aquatic. They spend the vast majority of their time in, or very near permanent sources of water. Often they can be found basking on tree branches which overhang slow moving streams or ponds. Their primary diet is fish and amphibians, and they are quite adept at catching both in their aquatic environment. They will also consume rodents.
While their...
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