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Georgia Biologist Records Banded Water Snake Swallowing American Eel

Banded water snakes are found throughout much of the Midwest and Southeastern United States.

The snake and eel were splashing in the water at first and then the snake was able to get the eel onto land, where it began to eat it.

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A biologist with the Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural resources recorded a southern banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata) eating an American eel (Anguilla rostrata). The division wrote on its Facebook page that the biologist witnessed the predation event at a swamp in Liberty County. The snake and eel were splashing in the water at first and then the snake was able to get the eel onto land, where it began to eat it. The video released by the Georgia DNR begins with the snake eating the eel on land.

Banded water snakes are found throughout much of the Midwest and Southeastern United States. The colubrid snakes are variable in color, usually drab and with bands. It is almost exclusively aquatic, non-venmomous and can grow up to five feet in length. The feed on fish as juveniles and then add frogs to their diets. American eels are also part of their diet as shown in the Georgia DNR video.

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Banded Water Snake Information

The banded water snake gives birth to live young with brood sizes ranging from 15 to 20 on average. There are three subspecies: The broad banded water snake (N. f. confluens), common water snake (N. f. fasciata), and the Florida banded water snake (N. f. pictiventris)


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