Hey all you snake lovers. What kind is this?

[Bypass]

I have seen some massive water snakes, most cotton mouths bodies stay submerged as they swim. From the pics it looks like an Allatoona water snake but I could not say for sure till I saw it closer. Saw one in allatoona creek that looked 6 ft long.

Yep.

 

[bassdaddy00]

Other way around.

Well dang, thought I had it right all these years lol. Learn something new every day I reckon.

 

[Cobalt 60]

Well dang, thought I had it right all these years lol. Learn something new every day I reckon.

No worries. I know a pretty good bit, but the real snake expert on here is RdKill. If he tells me I am wrong about a snake fact that I am sure about, I am inclined to believe him!

 

[mojoween]

Water snake 100%

There is absolutely no way this is a cottonmouth. Cottonmouths are much fatter and their head is very distinct

 

[Realstudent368]

Water snake 100%

There is absolutely no way this is a cottonmouth. Cottonmouths are much fatter and their head is very distinct

What do you mean by"distinct"?

 

[Laxguy59]

What do you mean by"distinct"?

More dramatic triangular shape

 

[mojoween]

 

[Bear44]

Other way around.

Nope. It's the Cottonmouth that rides high in the water.

Looks very similar to the OPs pic, doesn't it. vvv

 

[Outlander]

Makes no difference to me...I am not getting close enough to find out. I do not like snakes at all.............................

 

[RdKill]

You know I consider you our resident expert on snakes, but I think you need to take a closer look at this one. I have worked with a herpetologist catching and documenting many venomous snakes in the Okefenokee Swamp and one of the giveaways of a Cottonmouth was the body riding high in the water when swimming. We saw many different body shapes of individual snakes and this one's is well within the norm for a Cottonmouth. Also, the color, markings and head shape (what we can see of them) certainly do not eliminate it as one.

Though I would not definitely identify it as a Cottonmouth from these pics, it definitely does have some of the identifiable characteristics of one and no factors that would eliminate the possibility. My advice if this snake is seen again is to proceed with caution and try and get a more definite identification.

I scrolled past the first set of pics into laxguys post and thought they were more of the same snake. My bad. Still...doesn't look like a cottonmouth to me but really impossible to tell from the photos. If it is a cottonmouth, the poor thing needs to eat. It's grossly underweight for its length. I'd come closer to believing some dark colored ready to shed or hyper-melanistic copperhead....or more likely...a watersnake.