‹ Compare two snakes
Eastern Milksnake vs Northern Watersnake
Tap a part to see it on both. Tap it again to turn it off.
(c) Daniel J. Layton, some rights reserved (CC BY)
Eastern Milksnake
Lampropeltis triangulum
Non-venomousMartyn Drabik-Hamshare, no rights reserved
Northern Watersnake
Nerodia sipedon
Non-venomousThe quick way to tell
Check the back of the head. The Eastern Milksnake usually has a pale Y or V patch on the neck and neat black-edged blotches. The Northern Watersnake has no neck patch and rougher, duller bands that turn to blotches.
Head ★ This settles it
Small head, often with a pale Y or V mark on the back of it.
Narrow head barely wider than the neck; flattens when threatened.
Pattern
Reddish-brown saddles edged in black on gray; checkerboard belly.
Crossbands up front breaking into blotches toward the tail; reddish half-moons on the belly.
Eyes
Round pupil, small dark eye; no heat-sensing pit.
Round pupil, eyes set high on the head; no heat-sensing pit.
Pits
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
Tail
Tapers evenly; no rattle - but it vibrates the tip.
Tapers evenly; no rattle.
What it does
Vibrates its tail and musks; often found in basements and walls.
Basks on docks and banks; drops into water, bites hard if grabbed.
Where it lives
Northeast and Midwest: Maine and Ontario west to Minnesota and Iowa, south through the Appalachians to northern Georgia and Alabama, and down the Mississippi valley to Missouri, northern Arkansas and eastern Kansas.
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.