Plain-bellied Watersnake vs. Diamondback Watersnake

Both are big, heavy watersnakes of southwestern Indiana. An adult Plain-bellied Watersnake is plain dark above with an unmarked red-orange or yellow belly. A Diamondback keeps its pattern for life — a dark chain or net around pale diamond-shaped patches — and its yellow belly carries dark half-moons. The young are harder, because a young Plain-bellied is boldly blotched: look for whether the dark marks stay as separate rows of blotches (Plain-bellied) or link at the corners into a chain (Diamondback), and at the belly — plain, or with half-moons.

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

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