"moccasin"

Tropidonotus fasciatus, variety erytbrogaster, (Shaw)

Colouration: Dull, rusty-brown above. Rich and immaculate vermilion or brick-red beneath.
Distribution: Along the Atlantic coast the Red-bellied Water Snake does not extend farther north than Virginia. In the Central States it extends northward into Michigan, specimens from which locality are very dark brown or blackish above, while the plates of the abdomen show clouded black edges, which narrow toward the centre. Westward, this snake ranges to Colorado, while it also occurs in northern Mexico. The most strikingly brilliant examples and the greatest numbers occur in South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida.
Habits: A large specimen taken by the writer in the "low-grounds" of Hampton County, South Carolina, disgorged, during the excitement attending its capture, eleven "suckers," three sun fish and a craw fish, or "fresh-water lobster." The crustacean was of moderate size and armed as it was with a formidable pair of mandibles, must have formed a very awkward object to swallow.

Of the three varieties of the banded water snake that merit distinct, varietal names, the present reptile is the most closely related to the typical form, although in the colouration of mature individuals the most unlike it. This relationship is demonstrated by the young; they are vividly banded above, precisely like the young typical reptile; beneath, however, the abdomen is immaculate and lacks all traces of the red spots that are so numerously present with the latter serpent. The pattern of the young Red-bellied Water Snake rapidly fades from the time of birth and gives way to the colouration described herewith. In size and form the Red-bellied Water Snake, when adult, in no way differs from the preceding reptile.

Except in half-grown specimens, there are seldom traces of bands on the back or the sides. With such specimens the red of the abdomen is paler than with adults, and assumes a yellowish tinge on the chin and throat.

A large female specimen captured in an inlet of the Savannah River was of a rich, coral red above, with a faint suggestion of the bands on the sides; the colour beneath was brilliant brick-red. This handsome snake gave birth to a brood of over thirty young, which were reddish-yellow, with jet black, wavy cross-bands.

Strikingly distinct in the colouration of the adults, and fairly constant in the display of its peculiar hues, this serpent is well worthy its varietal name, and is easily recognised.

This snake displays much the same habits as the common water snakes with which it frequently associates in the swamps and waterways.