Mississippi Green Watersnake

Nerodia cyclopion

The Mississippi Green Watersnake is a friendly snake that loves to swim! It has beautiful green and brown colors that help it blend in with the water plants.

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Mississippi Green Watersnake is a thick-bodied snake, typically olive-green to dark brown, often with faint or absent patterns. It has strongly keeled scales and round pupils, which visibly distinguish it from venomous lookalikes like the Cottonmouth.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumChordataClassSquamataOrderSerpentesFamilyColubridaeGenusNerodia

Mississippi Green Watersnake

Interesting facts

A single mother Mississippi Green Watersnake can give birth to over 60 live baby snakes!

Despite their name, they are excellent divers, hunting beneath the water's surface!

These snakes have rough, 'keeled' scales that help them grip slippery surfaces, even underwater!

When scared, this snake flattens its head to look big and scary, but it's an act!

Special abilities

Mississippi Green Watersnake can hunt fish and frogs underwater because its muscular body and breath-holding capability make it an expert swimmer.

Mississippi Green Watersnake has live birth, helping its young develop safely inside the mother before entering the watery world.

Mississippi Green Watersnake has strongly keeled scales that provide excellent grip, helping them navigate dense wetland vegetation and slippery banks.

Mississippi Green Watersnake has an olive-green to dark brown color that helps them blend perfectly with murky water and aquatic plants.

Measurements & details

Length: 76-140 cm
Weight: 0.5-2 kg
Lifespan: 5-10 years
Top Speed: 5 km/h
Swim Speed: 10 km/h
Clutch Size: 10-60
Maximum Depth: 10 m

Diet & Feeding

They love to munch on fish and frogs, catching them with quick underwater movements!

Primary Foods

Fish
Frogs
Tadpoles
Salamanders

Foraging Method

Ambush

Ecological connections

hunts

Mosquitofish

Gambusia affinis

A primary food source in its habitat.

hunts

Southern Leopard Frog

Lithobates sphenocephalus

Frequently preys on these frogs and their tadpoles.

eaten by

American Alligator

Alligator mississippiensis

Young and adult snakes can be prey for alligators.

eaten by

Raccoon

Procyon lotor

Raccoons sometimes prey on watersnakes found near water.

Traits

Solitary

Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care.

Camouflaged

Camouflaged describes organisms that possess coloring or patterns that allow them to blend into their environment.

Colorful

Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.

Piscivorous

Piscivorous organisms are animals that primarily subsist on a diet of fish.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.