Nerodia sipedon aka Common Water Snakes

The kind you whack with a shovel.

Harmless and protected in Georgia. All nonvenomous are protected in Georgia.

Look like shotgun target water snakes!

There’s only two types of snakes - rattlesnakes and copperheads. If it don’t rattle, it’s a copperhead. Lol.

Yup water snakes, they've been breeding on sunny days here the last two weeks

The kind I find in my minnow traps. Mike

We don't have those snakes or copperheads right around here but how do u tell the difference between those water snake and copperhead
They look like what I thought copperheads look like

How do you tell a basset from a beagle? Body shape, size, conformation. Same with snakes.

Common water has abrupt color change and square blocks of color

Coppers have more gradual shift of color and HOURGLASS blocks of color

^^^and no copperheads in NY

top- Water Snake
bottom- Copperhead

That, too. If you know all your locals it narrows the selection.

Honestly, my only fear with snakes is the unknown exotic some fool snuck in and let get loose.

A couple years ago a fer-de-lance was seen and photographed wandering around Macon, GA.

Turtledale: There are copperheads in SE New York, especially on the ridges along the Delaware River. Back in the 60,s we caught both rattlesnakes and copperheads from Port Jervis all the way up to Hancock. Sold them in the zoo trade. Lots of slate quarries became snake dens.

Copperheads have those "dumbbell" copper colors. Water snakes-mostly bands

Gatorhead snappin moccasins

Who cares? Choot em!

I'm kind of the two kind of snake guy myself. There's the dangerous ones and the dead ones.

Fixed!

.. them little ole copperheads are sissies.. but are able to inconvenience you enough to not go barefoot in the spring