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(Nerodia sipedon)
| Identification: Front portion of body crossbanded, rear portion crossbanded or blotched; pattern sometimes obscure, especially in large individuals; belly often with red or orange blotches; upper scales keeled, with a pair of tiny pits near the tip of each scale; anal scale divided; more than two scales between eye and nostril; maximum total length about 150 cm (59 inches), but very few in Colorado exceed 100 cm (39 inches); males usually less than 62 cm (24 inches) snout-vent length, females usually less than 82 cm (32 inches) snout-vent length; end of tail often missing. |  |
Colorado Distribution:
Along streams in the plains region
of eastern Colorado at elevations below about 5,500 feet. Fairly
common.
Habitat:
Creeks, rivers, reservoirs, ponds,
marshes, flooded meadows, and canals along major drainage systems; rarely found
away from the immediate vicinity of water. Usually seen swimming along marsh
edges or basking in semisecluded onshore sites, on log jams in streams, on mats
of algae, on clumps of dead cattails, or up to several feet high in woody
streamside vegetation; sometimes under rocks or wood at the water’s
edge.
Life History: Females give birth to their young usually
between mid-August and mid-September. Forages in shallow water for fishes, adult
and larval amphibians, and sometimes crayfish or other small animals.