Florida watersnake
| Florida watersnake |
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| Scientific Classification |
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| Scientific Name |
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Nerodia fasciata pictiventris |
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| The Florida Water snake is often confused with the Florida Water Moccasin, as shown above, but the Water Moccasin is classified in a different Family than the Water snake |
Body Design
The average length of a Florida water snake is 24-43 inches long. It has a silky ventral side, located on bottom side, that is covered in slime as it spends most of its time in or near the water. Its belly is yellow and has small red spots. The dorsal, which refers to the top side of the snake, can be brown, black, and green. When the snake is young, these colors appear in brilliant bands from top to bottom. As the snake ages, it often loses it banding and slowly fades to a darker, duller black.
The Florida water snake is often mistaken with the venomous Cottonmouth (Agkittrodon piscivorus). It is easily distinguished, however, by its eyes. Unlike most of the snakes near the Florida water snake's habitat, its pupils are round, not horizontal. They also do not have heat-seeking pits on their heads like most poisonous snakes.
Life Cycle
the Florida water snake normally reach maturity around three to four years of age. Their mating season is in the spring and most baby's are born around august to October. Unlike other snakes these snakes are live bearers which is when their babies are hatched inside them, the eggs are held in the mother until the eggs hatch and are born and their can be about twenty or more babies and can reach up to seven to eight years of age and reach a length of eight to twelve inches. These snakes are not venomous and will normally run at the sight of danger but if needed they will strike and release a foul smelling musk to scare away predators.[2]
This snake is very active and will not eat a lot of food at once but mostly eats rodents like mice, rats, small fish, frogs, salamanders, etc. this water snake mostly live by the water in grassy muddy patches and can often times climb trees, they prefer to stay hidden and don't want a fight.[2] These snakes have sexual dimorphism which is when the females are significantly heavier and larger then the males and tend to grow much faster. these snakes have many predators like alligators, large birds, bigger mammals but they are confused commonly with the very deadly cotton mouth or water moccasin and animals tend to stay away little do they know this snake can cause no real harm which is why they are growing at suck a rampant rate.[3]
Ecology
The Florida Watersnake is found all throughout the Floridian peninsula except for the Florida Keys. It can also be found in Southeastern Georgia and in Brownsville, Texas, but is only native to Florida and the extreme Southeastern edge of Georgia. In rare cases, the Florida Watersnake has been found in several spots in California. [4] The snake is found in almost all shallow freshwater environments like marshes and swamps. [5] The Florida Watersnake is active both at night and during the day. When it is warm, the snake tends to bask at the water's edge to warm up. When it's cold, the water snake hides out in dens along the water banks. When the snake is in need of food, it may travel up to a mile or more to find prey such as frogs, fish, crayfish, and salamanders. [4] When the Florida Watersnake feels threatened, it may strike the predator, flatten its body, and emit a strong smelling musk, along with feces. [4]
A common fear about the Florida Watersnake is competition against the native species found in California, such as the Giant Garter Snake and the California Tiger Salamander, especially the Giant Garter Snake as it and the Florida Watersnake are directly competing for the same food sources. [6]
Invasive Species
Environmental Impact the Florida water snake is very similar to the cottonmouth or water moccasin and is often confused with them, which are both extremely poisonous and vicious, even people confuse these snakes and go to the hospital in all hours of the night claiming they had been bitten by a cottonmouth or water moccasin racking up big hospital bills and wasting expensive hospital antivenoum, but it isn't just humans animals also make this mistake which makes it unappealing to eat too of the predators it would normally have in it's native habitat, such as birds of prey, foxes, Dogs, cats, raccoons, and wild pigs. Since these animals are unaware that this snake in nonvenomous the population of this snake has grown rapidly. there are thousands of these snakes all over Florida and these snakes are devouring other animals food sources and up setting their food chains. they have helped keep the rodent population to a minimum but they are a real problem in Florida, and shows no sign of getting under control.[7]
Control Methods Since January of 2008, importing any water snake that is not native to California is illegal without a permit. [8] Since the real effect of the Florida Watersnake hasn't been thoroughly studied, not many methods of control of the population is in place.
Video
video of the Florida water snake
References
- ↑ Nerodia Fasciata Wikispecies. Web. Last modified March 12, 2016. Author Unknown.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Banded Water Snake Information & Facts Snake Removal Nationwide Service. Web. Accessed October 31, 2016. Author Unknown.
- ↑ water snake informationHunting, life-cycle, diet and dimorphism of a water snake. web. accessed October 30,2016. author Unknown
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Florida Watersnake California Herps. Web. Accessed October 30, 2016. Author Unknown.
- ↑ Krysko, Kennith. Nerodia Fasciata Pictiventris Florida Museum of Natural History. Web. Accessed October 30, 2016.
- ↑ Algar, Jim. Invasive water snakes seen as threat to native California species Tech Times. Web. Published June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Florida water snakeAuthor: Louis A. Somma Revision date: Sunday, October 27, 2009
- ↑ Fuller, Mike. The California Nerodia Site Biology at the University of New Mexico. Web. Month Day, Year. Last updated June 29, 2016
