Copper-bellied Watersnake

ceherzog,
I almost became a botanist, lol. My younger sister did! It is a wonderful world, so many interesting plants and animals!

Yeah, now that you mention it...I looked it up and came up with red-bellied...it was pretty husky and probably 3-4'.

ceherzog,
you likely saw one of the other sub-species in South Carolina, very likely the red-bellied or yellow-bellied watersnake.

Range - The population of copperbelly water snakes that live in southern Michigan, northeastern Indiana, and northwestern Ohio has been listed as threatened. Another population of copperbellies live in southwestern Indiana and adjacent Illinois and Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. That population is not listed as threatened, but is protected by conservation agreements with State Departments of Natural Resources, various other State agencies, and coal companies.

We are working to add the Tennessee population as well!

That sounds like a really interesting project to be involved in!

I'm pretty sure I saw this snake in South Carolina near Lake Murray...I assume it's range includes that area?

Karen,
It is a wild snake. I am a herpetologist and work with reptiles and amphibians for a living. A graduate student from Middle Tennessee State University is examining the snake just before it is getting measured and scale-clipped by some Austin Peay State University grad students doing research at this study sight.
Lisa

I see you are handling him in photo 3 - is he a wild snake or in captivity?

Another gorgeous snake Lisa!
Would you mind adding some info on each species to your spottings - habitat, diet, habits etc? I'm sure many people (myself included) would be very interested to learn more.