Is There Water Moccasins In Michigan. These snakes have a triangular-shaped head, which can be seen in the top-left picture. The easiest way to tell this apart from something like the northern water snake is the belly.
The river at that tide was just a channel with mud flats in both sides. The northern water snake is a thick, medium-length snake marked with dark splotches and bands on a lighter background. Two species of the genus Agkistrodon occur in the United States, the cottonmouth and the copperhead (A. contortrix).
Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) are Michigan's only venomous snakes.
Water moccasin snake's neck is narrower than the head.
A copper-bellied water snake usually has a distinctive bright orange belly with no markings. Both Michigan snake species are protected by Michigan law. It is most often seen basking on rocks, stumps, or brush.