Nerodia sipedon

Bishop CA, Rouse JD. 2000. Chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations in plasma of Lake Erie water snake Nerodia sipedon insularum) and northern water snake (Nemdia sipedon sipedon) from the Great Lakes Basin in 1998. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 39 500-505. 

Burger J, Campbell KR, Campbell TS, Shukla T, Jeitner C, Gochfeld M. 2005. Use of skin and blood as nonlethal indicators of heavy metal contamination in northern water and snakes (Nerodia sipedon). Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 49 232-238. 

Northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon, carcass ... 

Northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon, Lake Michigan, 1978, chlordanes, all tissues, stomach contents Common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, Lake ND 30... 

Scudder, K. M., Stewart, N. J., and Smith, H. M. (1980). Response of neonate water snakes Nerodia sipedon sipedon) to conspecific chemical cues. Journal of Herpetology 14, 196-198. 

Snakes are amongst the most feared of aU creatures simply because a handful of species are lethal to humans. It is perhaps a forhmate quirk of evolution that snakes strike fear into us, because this means that we leave them alone. On the other hand some harmless snakes, for example the Common Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) from north America, are killed because they look like dangerous species (in this case the dreaded Water Moccasin or Cottonmouth Agkistrodon piscivorus)). This is an unfortimate quirk of evolution, because the Brown Water Snake has evolved to mimic the dangerous Water Moccasin in the hope of frightening away potential predators. The outcome, however, as far as humans are concerned, is quite the opposite. 

Nerodia sipedon Lab Adult Reproduction Natural Ford, personal observation... 

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