I've had a pretty active season for snakes passing through my yard this year, and yesterday I had one come through that I've never seen before and thought I'd lean on some more experienced personnel on what it might have been.

About 3 feet long brownish / grayish solid color with no markings except for a pinkish hue near the ground towards its underside. Smaller head, so I didn't think it to be venomous. A little thicker than a blacksnake (and shorter than most blacks I encounter). I didn't kill it, just harassed it and chased it off.

From "Google is your friend" the best leads I can come up with are either an a) plain-bellied watersnake, or a b) red-bellied watersnake... the pictures of the red-bellied look a little more vibrant than these colorations, but I'm guessing that's probably what it was.

I'm located in a golfing community just on the mainland that fronts the ICWW in Coastal NC... my house is on the inland side of the golf course, so I'm a little farther from the salt water but our cul-de-sac is still partially wooded and the wooded portions slope down to a creek with about a 20' wide flood plain on either side.

Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

So far this year...

Killed about a 1 foot long Water Mocassin in the front yard in early March that was cold stunned (I think) *that's the second moccasin we've killed in the yard in 3 years here.

Had a about a 3' copperhead cross the front yard early May. I didn't get a chance to get to it before it got into the underbrush headed towards the neighbors.

3 Blacksnakes passing through also in May, but they are usually 4-5 feet and I don't bother them other than to escort them through the yard...

Highlight so far from 3 years ago now was a 6' Eastern Kingsnake. Beautiful snake.

We don't see many snakes around. If we do it's a black snake. Hard to tell you without a picture.

Back yard is full of black/rat snakes. I've let my back yard go somewhat with the overgrowth. I need to get back there and clean it up. Been a while since I've seen a copperhead.

Glasswolf said:

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Back yard is full of black/rat snakes. I've let my back yard go somewhat with the overgrowth. I need to get back there and clean it up. Been a while since I've seen a copperhead.

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My father in law believes that every snake is a copper head, funniest thing I've ever seen.

TheStorm said:

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I've had a pretty active season for snakes passing through my yard this year, and yesterday I had one come through that I've never seen before and thought I'd lean on some more experienced personnel on what it might have been.

About 3 feet long brownish / grayish solid color with no markings except for a pinkish hue near the ground towards its underside. Smaller head, so I didn't think it to be venomous. A little thicker than a blacksnake (and shorter than most blacks I encounter). I didn't kill it, just harassed it and chased it off.

From "Google is your friend" the best leads I can come up with are either an a) plain-bellied watersnake, or a b) red-bellied watersnake... the pictures of the red-bellied look a little more vibrant than these colorations, but I'm guessing that's probably what it was.

I'm located in a golfing community just on the mainland that fronts the ICWW in Coastal NC... my house is on the inland side of the golf course, so I'm a little farther from the salt water but our cul-de-sac is still partially wooded and the wooded portions slope down to a creek with about a 20' wide flood plain on either side.

Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

So far this year...

Killed about a 1 foot long Water Mocassin in the front yard in early March that was cold stunned (I think) *that's the second moccasin we've killed in the yard in 3 years here.

Had a about a 3' copperhead cross the front yard early May. I didn't get a chance to get to it before it got into the underbrush headed towards the neighbors.

3 Blacksnakes passing through also in May, but they are usually 4-5 feet and I don't bother them other than to escort them through the yard...

Highlight so far from 3 years ago now was a 6' Eastern Kingsnake. Beautiful snake.

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Be nice if you could have convinced it to hang around. Would take care of your other snake issues for you. I saw a small one hanging around the office building for awhile once year at my workplace…my colleagues named it Elvis.

ncsupack1 said:

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Glasswolf said:

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Back yard is full of black/rat snakes. I've let my back yard go somewhat with the overgrowth. I need to get back there and clean it up. Been a while since I've seen a copperhead.

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My father in law believes that every snake is a copper head, funniest thing I've ever seen.

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I use to believe the only good snake was a dead snake. I still don't like them but I can put up with the black snakes as long as I don't see them on my deck.

Glasswolf said:

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ncsupack1 said:

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Glasswolf said:

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Back yard is full of black/rat snakes. I've let my back yard go somewhat with the overgrowth. I need to get back there and clean it up. Been a while since I've seen a copperhead.

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My father in law believes that every snake is a copper head, funniest thing I've ever seen.

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I use to believe the only good snake was a dead snake. I still don't like them but I can put up with the black snakes as long as I don't see them on my deck.

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I leave them all alone. Although we really only see black snakes around here.

Red-Bellied Watersnake

Plain-Bellied Watersnake

These are my two best guesses just from playing around on Google, but I don't have any personal experience to know if we would have them around here or not.

TheStorm said:

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Red-Bellied Watersnake

Plain-Bellied Watersnake

These are my two best guesses just from playing around on Google, but I don't have any personal experience to know if we would have them around here or not.

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I believe that you would. Harmless snake.

Pythons caught roaming subdivision in eastern NC. Cops investigate how they got there

https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article289605772.html

Hopefully not near you!

They got there either from getting out, or more than likely a owner dumping them.

ncsupack1 said:

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TheStorm said:

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Red-Bellied Watersnake

Plain-Bellied Watersnake

These are my two best guesses just from playing around on Google, but I don't have any personal experience to know if we would have them around here or not.

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I believe that you would. Harmless snake.

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The red belly is a good ID pointer as no dangerous snake looks like that. This one is cute….for a snake. Do you live near water?

Oldsouljer said:

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ncsupack1 said:

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TheStorm said:

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Red-Bellied Watersnake

Plain-Bellied Watersnake

These are my two best guesses just from playing around on Google, but I don't have any personal experience to know if we would have them around here or not.

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I believe that you would. Harmless snake.

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The red belly is a good ID pointer as no dangerous snake looks like that. This one is cute….for a snake. Do you live near water?

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I do not but my work ( out doors ) takes me through out the state. I see these snakes a lot and they are harmless. I will say, the eastern part of the state has a very diverse snake population.

ncsupack1 said:

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Glasswolf said:

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Back yard is full of black/rat snakes. I've let my back yard go somewhat with the overgrowth. I need to get back there and clean it up. Been a while since I've seen a copperhead.

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My father in law believes that every snake is a copper head, funniest thing I've ever seen.

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when I was young I use to love scaring females by picking up glass lizards and kissing them and then telling the girl it was a Water Moccasin or Copperhead. They'd believe it every time haha

ncsupack1 said:

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Oldsouljer said:

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ncsupack1 said:

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TheStorm said:

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Red-Bellied Watersnake

Plain-Bellied Watersnake

These are my two best guesses just from playing around on Google, but I don't have any personal experience to know if we would have them around here or not.

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I believe that you would. Harmless snake.

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The red belly is a good ID pointer as no dangerous snake looks like that. This one is cute….for a snake. Do you live near water?

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I do not but my work ( out doors ) takes me through out the state. I see these snakes a lot and they are harmless. I will say, the eastern part of the state has a very diverse snake population.

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The eastern part is basically swamp, so….

Oldsouljer said:

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ncsupack1 said:

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TheStorm said:

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Red-Bellied Watersnake

Plain-Bellied Watersnake

These are my two best guesses just from playing around on Google, but I don't have any personal experience to know if we would have them around here or not.

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I believe that you would. Harmless snake.

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The red belly is a good ID pointer as no dangerous snake looks like that. This one is cute….for a snake. Do you live near water?

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400 yards from maybe a 4' wide freshwater / runoff type creek with about a 20' floodplain on both sides... lots of wetlands in the general area but no swampy / lowland areas that stay wet probably within 800 yards from me... and those would be tidal (brackish)...

I'm thinking the plain-belly was probably the culprit, but it definitely could have been the red-bellied... didn't turn to defend itself though... just fled to safety.

Something tells me that this guy would know the answer to your question

Anymore snakes?

Before I even got to the part of your post where you mentioned the water snake, that was my guess. I've seen them around my yard before and one got in my garage one time. They will scare you to start with as they look similar to a water moccasin. The belly will give it away fairly easy if you can see it. But, they will flee if given the chance. They are fatter than a black snake and have a grayish tint to them.

We live on the White Oak River on the Carteret County side and we tend to see more copperheads than anything....usually a couple each year. Our dog got bit in the face by one a few years ago.

We also have a few black snakes that tend to hang around every year and we had a nice king snake make it's way across the front yard last year.

Still waiting to see a rattle snake but believe they are hiding deeper in the Croatan.

ge_traveler said:

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Before I even got to the part of your post where you mentioned the water snake, that was my guess. I've seen them around my yard before and one got in my garage one time. They will scare you to start with as they look similar to a water moccasin. The belly will give it away fairly easy if you can see it. But, they will flee if given the chance. They are fatter than a black snake and have a grayish tint to them.

We live on the White Oak River on the Carteret County side and we tend to see more copperheads than anything....usually a couple each year. Our dog got bit in the face by one a few years ago.

We also have a few black snakes that tend to hang around every year and we had a nice king snake make it's way across the front yard last year.

Still waiting to see a rattle snake but believe they are hiding deeper in the Croatan.

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Overall, you are in a very similar ecosystem to where I live, I'm just not as close to a major coastal river though... you just named every snake that I've had through my yard over the last 3 years.

Our two Water Moccasin sightings (killings actually, thank god) had the very distinctive markings though, so there was no thought that this snake might have been that on my part. And yes, all it was interested in doing was fleeing, so I just encouraged it to do so...

Made me curious, so I pulled up the GIS and used the measurement tool and I'm not even 300 feet from the freshwater runoff creek / wetlands off the cul-de-sac, almost exactly 1/3 mile from Mill Creek (tidal creek that empties into the ICWW), and a just a hair over 2 miles from Chadwick Bay on the New River.

We have been in the middle of a heavy drought (in my yard specifically at least, lol)... has only really rained once here in the last five weeks (until yesterday that is)... the freshwater runoff creek has been completely dry for 10-14 days and I did read that the watersnake will travel into the uplands on a fairly regular basis. This one was probably looking for water, lol!

Are you down towards Cedar Point or farther up river?

TheStorm said:

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ge_traveler said:

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Before I even got to the part of your post where you mentioned the water snake, that was my guess. I've seen them around my yard before and one got in my garage one time. They will scare you to start with as they look similar to a water moccasin. The belly will give it away fairly easy if you can see it. But, they will flee if given the chance. They are fatter than a black snake and have a grayish tint to them.

We live on the White Oak River on the Carteret County side and we tend to see more copperheads than anything....usually a couple each year. Our dog got bit in the face by one a few years ago.

We also have a few black snakes that tend to hang around every year and we had a nice king snake make it's way across the front yard last year.

Still waiting to see a rattle snake but believe they are hiding deeper in the Croatan.

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Overall, you are in a very similar ecosystem to where I live, I'm just not as close to a major coastal river though... you just named every snake that I've had through my yard over the last 3 years.

Our two Water Moccasin sightings (killings actually, thank god) had the very distinctive markings though, so there was no thought that this snake might have been that on my part. And yes, all it was interested in doing was fleeing, so I just encouraged it to do so...

Made me curious, so I pulled up the GIS and used the measurement tool and I'm not even 300 feet from the freshwater runoff creek / wetlands off the cul-de-sac, almost exactly 1/3 mile from Mill Creek (tidal creek that empties into the ICWW), and a just a hair over 2 miles from Chadwick Bay on the New River.

We have been in the middle of a heavy drought (in my yard specifically at least, lol)... has only really rained once here in the last five weeks (until yesterday that is)... the freshwater runoff creek has been completely dry for 10-14 days and I did read that the watersnake will travel into the uplands on a fairly regular basis. This one was probably looking for water, lol!

Are you down towards Cedar Point or farther up river?

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We are near there, basically just down Hwy 58 in Cape Carteret (actually Peletier). Turn by the water tower on 58 and we are back down on the river. View looking back over to downtown Swansboro

ge_traveler said:

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TheStorm said:

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ge_traveler said:

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Before I even got to the part of your post where you mentioned the water snake, that was my guess. I've seen them around my yard before and one got in my garage one time. They will scare you to start with as they look similar to a water moccasin. The belly will give it away fairly easy if you can see it. But, they will flee if given the chance. They are fatter than a black snake and have a grayish tint to them.

We live on the White Oak River on the Carteret County side and we tend to see more copperheads than anything....usually a couple each year. Our dog got bit in the face by one a few years ago.

We also have a few black snakes that tend to hang around every year and we had a nice king snake make it's way across the front yard last year.

Still waiting to see a rattle snake but believe they are hiding deeper in the Croatan.

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Overall, you are in a very similar ecosystem to where I live, I'm just not as close to a major coastal river though... you just named every snake that I've had through my yard over the last 3 years.

Our two Water Moccasin sightings (killings actually, thank god) had the very distinctive markings though, so there was no thought that this snake might have been that on my part. And yes, all it was interested in doing was fleeing, so I just encouraged it to do so...

Made me curious, so I pulled up the GIS and used the measurement tool and I'm not even 300 feet from the freshwater runoff creek / wetlands off the cul-de-sac, almost exactly 1/3 mile from Mill Creek (tidal creek that empties into the ICWW), and a just a hair over 2 miles from Chadwick Bay on the New River.

We have been in the middle of a heavy drought (in my yard specifically at least, lol)... has only really rained once here in the last five weeks (until yesterday that is)... the freshwater runoff creek has been completely dry for 10-14 days and I did read that the watersnake will travel into the uplands on a fairly regular basis. This one was probably looking for water, lol!

Are you down towards Cedar Point or farther up river?

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We are near there, basically just down Hwy 58 in Cape Carteret (actually Peletier). Turn by the water tower on 58 and we are back down on the river. View looking back over to downtown Swansboro

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Oh, wow... that sounds beautiful!

You are a very lucky man...

ge_traveler said:

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Before I even got to the part of your post where you mentioned the water snake, that was my guess. I've seen them around my yard before and one got in my garage one time. They will scare you to start with as they look similar to a water moccasin. The belly will give it away fairly easy if you can see it. But, they will flee if given the chance. They are fatter than a black snake and have a grayish tint to them.

We live on the White Oak River on the Carteret County side and we tend to see more copperheads than anything....usually a couple each year. Our dog got bit in the face by one a few years ago.

We also have a few black snakes that tend to hang around every year and we had a nice king snake make it's way across the front yard last year.

Still waiting to see a rattle snake but believe they are hiding deeper in the Croatan.

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I've seen pics of huge Diamondbacks in Bertie county. They're out there.

Oldsouljer said:

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ge_traveler said:

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Before I even got to the part of your post where you mentioned the water snake, that was my guess. I've seen them around my yard before and one got in my garage one time. They will scare you to start with as they look similar to a water moccasin. The belly will give it away fairly easy if you can see it. But, they will flee if given the chance. They are fatter than a black snake and have a grayish tint to them.

We live on the White Oak River on the Carteret County side and we tend to see more copperheads than anything....usually a couple each year. Our dog got bit in the face by one a few years ago.

We also have a few black snakes that tend to hang around every year and we had a nice king snake make it's way across the front yard last year.

Still waiting to see a rattle snake but believe they are hiding deeper in the Croatan.

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I've seen pics of huge Diamondbacks in Bertie county. They're out there.

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I have seen and heard a many of those down east. Scary when you can hear them but not see them yet.