2005_spring_field_trip_043

St. Francis National Forest, Lee and Phillips Co., Arkansas, USA

This was a first time--and probably once in a lifetime--find for many of us at the AHS 2005 Spring Field Trip...a wild-caught snake hybrid! Based on morphological characteristics, it appeared to be a cross between a Broad-banded Watersnake (Nerodia fasciata confluens) and Diamondback Watersnake (Nerodia rhombifer rhombifer). Some of the "fasciata" features appear in the orange labial scales, whereas the ventral pattern is more "rhombifer". The dorsal pattern is just a strange mix of both!