Thanks for Your Input
 

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I can’t provide much more information on the description than was shown in the pictures, although the snake did not appear to be black. (I’d make a poor witness to an accident scene).

I guess we’ll never really know what it was, but I appreciate the web-links provided and have checked them all. I did forget to mention that we live next to a lot that backs onto a pond – so we are close to water.

I personally thought it might be a Florida Banded Watersnake, as shown below – but now I’m not so sure as the head looks wrong, as does the underbelly. The head looked more like the Cottonmouth – but who knows?

Maybe I’ll invest in a better camera for my next encounter.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...&pictureid=513

Shhhh!
 

When we visit next May, if anyone mentions anything about snakes to Linda...

I will be living the rest of my life in MA if she sees this thread so shhhhh!

I'm with Jojo on this one- where in Amelia?????

Becky

that looked awful close to it.. the other one looked a little darker, both of these resemble the Cotton Mouth.

The following link is a very interesting but long thread on the Florida cottonmouth/water moccasin. It includes pictures.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...356396925.html

I vote for it being a Banded Watersnake or possibly a mudsnake...the picture is really too dark to see clearly.

After keying it out the little beauty appears to be a Nerodia fasciata
otherwise known as a banded watersnake. If it is a banded watersnake it is harmless. What a beautiful animal, I wish I could have been there to witness it myself. Here's a picture I found on the web that somewhat resembles the original photos.


http://www.discoverlife.org/IM/I_JDW...a,I_JDW574.jpg