....but, on second thought, it could be a young non poisonous water snake. -This is what the guess is based on... Non poisonous because the head looks like it's more in line with the body. Maybe a Rat snake because they're common around Mandeville and have that banded pattern, but so do lots of snakes (especially young ones) and they're found on land. Maybe one of the many non poisonous water snakes because it's young because of the estimated small size (compared to the size of the leaves) and although the adults are all generally black with some brown tint, the young ones have a marked brown and black banding pattern that gets blacker as they get older. They're everywhere in SE Louisiana too. If that pic was taken close to water, I'd go with water snake if this was a Herpetology quiz question. It could be in transit to some more water. Tiga, what do you say?
You know, smell is another diagnostic trait. Water snakes have a stinky musk. Did you know Copperheads have a cucumber smelling musk? Rat snakes aren't as stinky as water snakes.
I just don't think I'm gonna get close enough to a copperhead to smell the cucumber. Oh Steve, a couple other's agreed that it was a rat snake. I haven't talked to her about if it was close to the lake or not. I would imagine that it was not too close, based on her dog walking patterns.
