Florida Banded Water Snake Vs Cottonmouth

This banded watersnake feels threatened and is flattening its body and neck.
Florida banded water snake vs cottonmouth. The pupil of the eye is a catlike vertical slit and there is a pit on the side of the head between the eye and the nostril. The cottonmouth also has a narrow vertical pupil while banded water snakes have round pupils. Copperheads are not as common in florida as other parts of the southeast but their range does include parts of north florida and the panhandle. Head and neck size and shape.
Cottonmouth the trouble with brown snakes is they all look very similar. The eyes can be seen from the top of the head cottonmouth. The banded water snake is one of the most common snakes in florida. The cottonmouth is a common and venomous florida snake also called a water moccasin.
The pupil of the eye is round and there is no pit on the side of the head between the eye and the nostril. The venomous cottonmouth snake is one of the most feared animals in the eastern us and often misidentified and confused with harmless water snakes. It s a semi. Banded water snakes are often mistaken for the venomous cottonmouth or water moccasin as these two species look very similar but you can usually.
It lives in rivers lakes ponds and ditches and is often seen sunning itself on river and lake edges or in overhanging bushes.