Banded Watersnake vs. Common Watersnake

Range maps: they meet across the Gulf states, from Louisiana to the Carolinas (54 shared one-degree squares of records). A: A dark stripe from the eye to the corner of the jaw in the Banded Watersnake; no dark stripe from the eye; dark bars on the lip scales in the Common Watersnake. B: Wide dark crossbands all the way to the tail in the Banded Watersnake; crossbands near the head breaking into alternating back and side blotches toward the tail in the Common Watersnake. C: Yellowish, with dark squarish spots or wavy lines, often reddish at the sides (no open photo shows it) in the Banded Watersnake; pale, with reddish or black half-moons (no open photo shows it) in the Common Watersnake. D: Crossbands all the way down, often reddish between; the eye stripe already there in the Banded Watersnake; high-contrast dark crossbands on grey near the head, breaking into alternating blotches behind; no eye stripe in the Common Watersnake. Both bite and smear musk; neither is venomous.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

More comparisons

• Banded Watersnake vs. Northern Cottonmouth
• Banded Watersnake vs. Diamondback Watersnake
• Banded Watersnake vs. Plain-bellied Watersnake
• Banded Watersnake vs. Mississippi Green Watersnake
• Banded Watersnake vs. Eastern Copperhead
• Broad-banded Copperhead vs. Banded Watersnake
• Glossy Swampsnake vs. Banded Watersnake
• Saltmarsh Snake vs. Banded Watersnake
• Brown Watersnake vs. Banded Watersnake
• Florida Cottonmouth vs. Banded Watersnake
• Florida Green Watersnake vs. Banded Watersnake
• Eastern Copperhead vs. Common Watersnake
• Common Watersnake vs. Diamondback Watersnake
• Common Watersnake vs. Plain-bellied Watersnake
• Kirtland's Snake vs. Common Watersnake
• Queensnake vs. Common Watersnake
• Northern Cottonmouth vs. Common Watersnake
• Mississippi Green Watersnake vs. Common Watersnake
• Graham's Crawfish Snake vs. Common Watersnake
• Broad-banded Copperhead vs. Common Watersnake
• Glossy Swampsnake vs. Common Watersnake
• Brown Watersnake vs. Common Watersnake

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