Banded Watersnake vs. Eastern Copperhead

Range maps: they overlap across the southeastern states; banded watersnakes are often killed as 'copperheads' and the reverse. A: Narrow, not much wider than the neck; no pit in the Banded Watersnake; broad and triangular on a thin neck; a heat pit; plain copper colour in the Eastern Copperhead. B: Wide dark bands, about even all the way round in the Banded Watersnake; hourglass bands: narrow on the back, wide on the sides in the Eastern Copperhead. C: Round in the Banded Watersnake; vertical, cat-like in the Eastern Copperhead. D: Crossbands, no bright tail tip in the Banded Watersnake; pale hourglass bands and a bright yellow tail tip in the Eastern Copperhead. The Copperhead is venomous. Leave both alone.

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

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