Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Beneficial Midland Water Snake

By: Tom Berg

A lot of people do not like snakes. But snakes are actually a valuable part of the environment, and they have an important role to play wherever they live. Most snakes are totally harmless, too. One such harmless snake is the Midland Water Snake. The midland water snake is a subspecies of the common northern water snake. It is non-venomous and prefers to avoid people.

This water snake lives primarily in the south-central United States, from the southern half of Illinois and southwestern Indiana down through the western parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and throughout most of Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. It is also found in large portions of Missouri and Georgia.

Midland water snakes vary in color from brown or tan to gray, with many alternating light and dark bands. The belly is a light yellowish color. Adults are usually 25-30 inches long, although they can (rarely) reach almost five feet in length. Most individuals are less than three feet long. Their eyes feature round pupils, which is one way to distinguish them from venomous snakes like the cottonmouth which has eyes with vertically elliptical pupils.

As you might expect, midland water snakes are excellent swimmers and are quite skilled at hunting small fish underwater. They also eat frogs, tadpoles, crayfish and even other juvenile snakes. They frequently eat dead or dying fish, which helps keep the water clean and prevents the spread of fish-borne diseases. When they do eat live fish, they mostly eat minnows and other very small fish, which aids in keeping some species from overpopulating.

In the past, water snakes of all kinds were often killed because people thought they killed and ate gamefish and were detrimental to lakes and rivers. However, water snakes are actually quite beneficial to the environment. The fact that they help keep waters clean and healthy by removing dead fish is especially valuable.

So keep an eye out for this helpful snake the next time you are out fishing, boating or hiking along your favorite creek, river or lake. If you leave it alone it will be more than happy to leave you alone!

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