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Banded Water Snake — Part 2
Total Length . . . . .3 feet, 2 inches.
Length of Tail . . . . 8 inches.
Diameter of Body . . . . .1 1/2 inches.
Width of Head . . . . .1 inches.
Length of Head . . . . .1 3/4 inches.
There are few reptiles more shy than these semi-aquatic serpents. If escape be cut off, they assume a threatening attitude by flattening the head and body. At such times they bite viciously and give off a very offensive odour, produced by a secretion contained in glands near the base of the tail and voluntarily emitted by the snake when annoyed. Captive specimens soon become tame and permit themselves to be handled with the utmost good nature. They are among the most hardy of reptiles, subsisting for years upon a diet of frogs, toads, and fishes.
Capable of displaying great agility in the water, these serpents in a wild state feed largely upon fishes, although frogs and toads form part of their diet. Warm-blooded creatures, such as the smaller rodents and birds, so preyed upon many of the larger snakes, are never eaten by the reptiles of this genus, which confine their food entirely to the cold-blooded denizens of the streams and swamps. Though persistently frequenting the vicinity of water in a wild state, they will live and thrive in captivity, with no water, except in small vessels from which to drink. Under such conditions the writer has reared numerous broods of them.
The Banded Water Snake is one of the most abundant snakes of the Southern States. It gives birth to large numbers of living young-broods of forty or even fifty not being of rare occurrence. The female pays no attention to her offspring, which desert her immediately after birth, and within a few days begin feeding upon small fishes. The very young snakes are often found hiding under chips, or flat stones along the edges of streams and ponds.