‹ Compare two snakes
Eastern Massasauga vs Northern Watersnake
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erinsuzanne, no rights reserved
Eastern Massasauga
Sistrurus catenatus
VenomousMartyn Drabik-Hamshare, no rights reserved
Northern Watersnake
Nerodia sipedon
Non-venomousThe quick way to tell
Look at the tail tip. The Eastern Massasauga has a blunt tail ending in a small rattle, plus a wide triangular head. The Northern Watersnake's tail tapers to a point, and its head is narrower.
Tail ★ This settles it
Small, with a tiny buzzy rattle.
Tapers evenly; no rattle.
Head
Small triangular head with nine large plates on top and a dark stripe through the eye.
Narrow head barely wider than the neck; flattens when threatened.
Pattern
Large dark brown squarish blotches down a gray back, smaller spots along the sides.
Crossbands up front breaking into blotches toward the tail; reddish half-moons on the belly.
Eyes
Vertical slit pupil; heat-sensing pit between eye and nostril.
Round pupil, eyes set high on the head; no heat-sensing pit.
Pits
A deep heat-sensing pit on each side of the face, between the eye and the nostril.
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
What it does
Freezes and stays still; rarely rattles or strikes.
Basks on docks and banks; drops into water, bites hard if grabbed.
Where it lives
Great Lakes region and upper Midwest: western New York, western Pennsylvania and Ontario west through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin to eastern Iowa (now gone from Missouri and Minnesota).
Eastern and central US from Maine and Ontario south to the Carolinas and the Gulf states (just into the Florida panhandle), west to Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma; introduced in California.