This nonpoisonous snake
is active day and night. It is frequently encountered basking on rocks
or stumps, hunting frogs in shoreline vegetation during the day, or
gorging itself on minnows and small fishes caught sleeping in the
shallows at night. Also eats salamanders, juvenile turtles,
crustaceans, even small mammals. Will flee if given the chance, but
flattens body and strikes repeatedly if cornered. It grows to leghts of
22-53”. It is reddish, brown, or gray to brownish-black, with dark
cross bands on neck region, and alternating dark blotches on back and
sides at midbody. Pattern darkens with age, becoming black. The belly
is white, yellow, or gray, with reddish-brown or black crescent-shaped
spots. No dark line from eye to corner of mouth. Juveniles more
vivid.
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