Plain Bellied Water Snake

Appearance:

I’m not going to lie here; snakes are not really my strong suit. It took me awhile to identify this snake and even now I’m not 100%. Apparently, there are like five subspecies of this snake, two of which live in Alabama: N. e. erythrogaster (Yellowbelly) & N. e. flavigaster (Redbelly). The one photographed here (N. e. flavigaster) is the Yellow-Bellied variety. The best way to tell them apart is to look at the belly, however they look rather similar to the venomous cottonmouth water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorous), so good luck getting close enough to see the belly.

Habitat:

In Alabama, N. e. erythrogaster is confined to the extreme southeastern counties while N. e. flavigaster is found throughout most of the remainder of the state.

Behavior:

If you look closely at the eyes in the photos you may notice that they look cloudy. This is perfectly normal. Snakes’ eyes are covered with an eye cap which is a transparent part of the snake’s outer skin. This eye cap will usually become cloudy before a snake sheds its skin when it goes through a “pre-shed.”

Plain-Bellied Water Snakes can often be seen sunning on logs or overhanging branches from which they drop into the water when alarmed. Adept swimmers and divers, plainbelly water snakes obtain most of their food from the water. Their diet includes fish, crayfish, salamanders, and frogs.