Diamond-back Water Snake

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Ranked #48 in Animals, #1,525 overall

Nerodia rhombifera

The Diamond-back (or backed) Water Snake is a long, heavy-bodied, tan to gray-brown snake with a pattern of dark brown to black chain-like markings. The belly is yellow, but with dusky brown markings. As the name implies it lives in slow moving waters and is found all over Louisiana. These beautiful snakes eat fish, frogs, and a few birds.

The Diamondback Water Snake

is a beautifully patterned non-poisonous snake. The almost triangular shape of it's head can be deceiving to the novice and it is often confused with water moccasins. It's round eyes, lack of pits above the eyes and long, thinner tail distinguish it from the venomous Cottonmouth Moccasin.

Diamondbacked Water Snakes in our Habitat 

Since our wildlife habitat is located along the Tchefuncte River, we often see many water snakes, but the largest and most interesting one that lives around the river is the Diamondback Water Snake. This snake can grow to 63 inches and we have several this size. They mate in the spring and have live young from early August to late October.

We have been lucky enough to photograph this attractive snake both in and out of the water. They like to bask in the sun on over hanging branches or cling to a submerged branch to lie in wait while hunting. Where we live, these skillful hunters eat primarily fish and we have observed one grab a 2 pound catfish and take it to the shore to eat it. The snake worked to try to swallow the fish for hours, until it finally gave up and tried for a perch.

Unfortunately, this beautiful, non-poisonous snake is sometimes killed because of its slightly triangular head, the untrained mistake it for the venomous Copperhead or Water Moccasin. The photos below (from "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana" by Harold A. Dundee and Douglas A Rossman) show the difference between the heads of the snakes.

A. Diamond-backed water snake, Nerodia rhombifera
C. Copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix
D. Cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus

diamondback water snake copperhead & cotton mouth water moccasin

A Water Snake's Year 

A Water Snake's Year

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Diamondback Water Snake Facts 

The Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer) is a common species of water snake found throughout much of the central United States and northern Mexico. It is non-venomous and a member of the colubrid family. There are three recognized subspecies of N. rhombifer. The species was first described as Tropidonotus rhombifera by Edward Hallowell in 1852.

Water Snakes of North America 

Water Snakes of North America

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Snakes Duel 

What do you think about Water Snakes?

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Water Snakes are fascinating creatures!

rio1 says:

These are beautiful snakes and they get very large, but they are harmless.

KimGiancaterino says:

I prefer snakes to be in their natural habitats.

I try not to think about them.

 
 
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Diamond-back Water Snake Sunning on a Log 

Since snakes are cold-blooded, they must take advantage of the sun to warm their bodies. That is why you will often see them stretched our on logs or curled in tree branches "sunning". We photographed this large Diamond-back Watersnake, near the Tchefuncte River, sunning on a tree that was downed during Hurricane Katrina.

Diamond-back Watersnake on Log postcard
Buy Diamond-back Watersnake on Log by naturegirl7

Diamond-back Water Snake Photos 

Diamondback Water Snake by Shutter_Hand

The Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer) is a common species of water sna...

Diamondback Water Snake by annjaber74

This Diamondback Water Snake is nonpoisonous but they do say that it is very agg...

Diamondback Water Snake by tjonesphotos

Big Lake WMA, Arkansas ww...

Diamondback water snake by supaho06

(N. rhombifer)

The Water Snake Up Close by annjaber74

This Diamondback Water Snake is nonpoisonous but they do say that it is very agg...

Chillin' in the Pond by Shutter_Hand

The Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer) is a common species of water sna...

Diamond-back Watersnake "Fishing" 

Some watersnakes hook their tails to a submerged branch and lie in wait for their prey. Here is a shot of a Diamond-back Water Snake "fishing" in the Tchefuncte River. We have observed Diamond-back's grabbing fish underwater many times. It looks strange, because, in most cases, you don't see the snake, you just see the fish as the snake whips it around.

Fishing Photos - The Big One Got Away! 

Snakes of the U.S. & Canada 

Snakes of the United States and Canada

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Diamond-back Water Snake YouTube 

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Water Snakes on Zazzle 

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Water Snake Tie tieDiamond-back Water Snake Mug mugDiamond-back Water Snake Tie tieWater Snake Sticker sticker

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Snake Facts from Wiki 

Snakes are elongate legless carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Like lizards, from which they evolved, they have loosely articulated skulls and most can swallow prey much larger than their own head. In order to accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca.

Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica. Fifteen families are currently recognized comprising 456 genera and over 2,900 species.Colubridae species list at the TIGR Reptile Database. Accessed 4 December 2008. They range in size from the tiny, 10 cm long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 7.6 m (25 ft) in length. The recently discovered fossil Titanoboa was 13 m or 43 ft long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards during the Cretaceous period (c 150 Ma). The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene period (c 66 to 56 Ma).

Most species are non-venomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans.

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Water Snake Blog Posts 

Diamondback Water Snake, Kansas on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Diamondback Water Snake Nerodia rhombifer near Eureka, Kansas; Eureka County taken 18 May 2009 about 9:04pm side of road after sunset juvenile, about 16 inches This is first time that I've photographed this species. 096a08.
Diamondback Water Snake - Honey Island, LA
The tree branches hanging over the river were loaded with these snakes since they had just emerged from hibernation and it was breeding time. Unfortunately from a photographic point of view. seeing them was one thing; focusing on them ...
The Feathered Quill: Venom Week! Snakes Part II
Diamondback water snakes are predominantly brown, dark brown, or dark olive green in color, with a black net-like pattern along their back, with each spot being vaguely diamond shaped. Dark vertical bars and lighter coloring are often ...
Water Snake
NaturalLight postou uma foto: Water Snake. A baby water snake out for a swim. Any ID help would be appreciated. Diamondback Water Snake?

Garter Snakes & Water Snakes Care 

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Slip in a comment. 

jura wrote...

Great lens

ReplyPosted June 08, 2009

AbbasAbedi wrote...

Excellent Lens. 5*

If you get a chance check out my Instant Stress Management lens.

ReplyPosted June 05, 2009

aj2008 wrote...

I'm not sure how I would feel having so many snakes around me as in the UK we dont see them often. However, this is another amazing "nature" lens and well deserving of the blessing I have just given it.

ReplyPosted April 25, 2009

spirituality wrote...

Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)

ReplyPosted April 19, 2009

AndyPo wrote...

Excellent lens. Very interesting. I'm a big fan of reptiles of all sorts.

ReplyPosted November 16, 2008

 
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by naturegirl7

giantsquid100badgeMy husband and I have always loved nature and the outdoors. We currently maintain a 9 acre private wildlife preserve and are Master Gardeners and offi... (more)
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