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Question about Northern Water Snakes
Can anybody speak to the temperament of these snakes?
The reason I ask isn't because I'm planning on walking up to one and handling it or anything. It's just that the habitat I herp at has a lot of these. In the past they're usually on the river's edge basking and they don't seem to mind me walking by them or even getting kind of close.
But yesterday I found one. I heard it splash into the water and ran to try and get a snapshot of it swimming. What startled me was that after a few seconds the snake stopped trying to hide under debris and started swimming back toward me. If I hadn't backed away I'm pretty sure it would have surfaced onto the rock I was standing on.
Does anybody on here have much experience encountering these water snakes? Are they typically aggressive and/or territorial? Or are they like most snakes where if you leave them alone they do the same?
The water at the gorge hike along gets deep right around where I've seen a number of these snakes. There aren't any dirt banks at the sides or rocks to step across and until yesterday I was thinking of just putting on waders (it's no more than 3 feet deep) and continuing on down. But if the snake is going to swim after me even if I'm not bothering it, I may have to change my plans.
(Sorry that was a long explanation for a simple question) Thanks!
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