This common and often beautiful aquatic snake is sometimes seen on roadways during rainy weather. Adult Florida Water Snakes average from 24-42 inches in length and are stout bodied snakes with black, brown, or red crossbands (often bordered with black) across back, which may be obscured as the snake darkens with age. Background color on the Florida water snake may be gray, yellow, tan, or reddish. Also called the Florida Banded Water Snake, it feeds on mainly fish and frogs.
The Florida Water Snake lives in rivers, lakes, ponds and ditches, and is often seen sunning itself on river and lake edges, or in overhanging bushes. Banded water snakes are often mistaken for the venomous cottonmouth or water moccasin, as these two species look very similar, but you can usually tell them apart by their behavior.
