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Snake experts in the house? Anonymous
I saw this guy on the shore of a lake in a state park in Massachuetts. Anyone know what it is?
I've heard it might be a water moccasin, which means I'm going to be a lot more wary...or it could be a rat snake.
More pics in thread.
>> Anonymous
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more pics
>> Anonymous
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last one
>> Anonymous
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ITT morons using 4chan as a supreme source of expert knowledge
>> Anonymous
I just need to know the species and I can find out all the info I need myself.
>> Anonymous
Fail for using the term water moccasin.

It's retarded slang for a Cottonmouth. No herpetologist acknowledges Water Moccasin as a valid term for anything. :|

Which your snake pictured, I guess you'll be glad to hear, isn't.

Strongly keeled scales suggest water snake, though I can't say I'm familiar with the species that live North beyond the Virginia line. Don't want to mis-inform you.

My suggestion--

kingsnake.com: go to the forums, post these pics, get an ID from some SUPER knowledgable herpers/herpetoculturists/herpetologists who live in the area.

Nice pics, by the way.
>> Anonymous
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>>99283
Thanks, I might post it there then. I take a lot of nature photos in general.
Here's another random nature photo I took, since this is "animals and NATURE." It's a murder of crows.
>> Anonymous
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>>99266

honestly, i think it's a black racer. not sure of the common name..but we caught a baby one in our front yard and kept it for a few days. it wouldn't eat in captivity so we released it. feisty little bastard. here is a pic of one. the reason i think it's a black racer is because i can see remnants of the red and gray pattern that turns black as it matures.
>> Anonymous
scratch that...i do see that red and gray pattern...but that snake you saw looks like it has keeled scales..which as far as i know, black racers don't have. sorry about that.
>> Anonymous
some one has suggested to me it's a snake called an Indigo.
>> Northern Water Snake Anonymous
This is a Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon), no doubt about it. Very common species around bodies of water in the eastern US, and of course completely harmless. They are a bit on the feisty side though...try to pick one up and you're likely to get bitten, and sprayed with a foul smelling musk. No big deal though...I've been bitten by dozens of these guys. Makes you bleed a little, but doesn't really hurt. This one is quite dark and has lost most of its patterning, but that's common in this species.

http://www.umass.edu/nrec/snake_pit/pages/nwater.html
>> Anonymous
I agree with>>99464. It does indeed look like a northern water snake. One time way back in camp we went on a hiking trip and we found of those guys and played with it. Like more than ten people handled it, and though it kept openening it's mouth threateningly it never actually bit us. (At the time we didn't know what it was though.)
>> Anonymous
>>99464
>>99537
Thirded. When I was younger I used to catch them by the dozens when I used to go out trying to catch turtles.

They are pretty aggressive when caught and their saliva contains a minor anticoagulant which is why you will bleed a little bit more if bit but it's no big deal.

Their color can range from even a little blacker than the guy you posted down to brown and red pattern like it has on its lower portion.