The Nature Pages

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	North American Watersnakes A Natural History by J. Whitfield Gibbons and Michael E. Dorcas University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.		Brown Watersnake Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
	This impressive reference covers much of what is currently known about the natural history of the genera Nerodia, Regina and Seminatrix in North America -- collectively referred to as "watersnakes" because of their common habitat. It does not include semiaquatic snakes found near or in water that are not dependent on wetland habitat for food and protection.		Brown Watersnake Nerodia Taxispilota ...has many common names, including the following: aspic, brown water snake, moccasin, pied-bellied water snake, southern water snake, water moccasin, water pilot, and water rattle (or rattler). Few outside the fields of scientific or amateur herpetology refer to N. taxispilota as the brown watersnake..
	Range maps down to the county level are provided for each species covered in the text, including sources of distribution records.  The cumulative range for the three genera includes 38 U.S. states, one Candian province, Cuba and 11 Mexican states.
Search our selection of new, used and out-of-print books.	Drawn from their own studies and nearly 1,800 references, authors J. Whitfield Gibbons and Michael E. Dorcas cover every aspect of watersnake natural history, from evolution and fossil records to reproduction, predation, captive maintenance and conservation efforts. They also discuss research questions, hypotheses and opportunities associated with each species.		Geographic Distribution Nerodia Taxispilota are found throughout the Coastal Plain and into the Piedmont along major rivers from eastern Alabama to eastern Virginia and have been reported from saltwater and brackish waters... Whether the range of this species is expanding or contracting in certain areas remains uncertain and is in need of further study.
	Gibbons is a professor of Ecology at the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Lab and author of Their Blood Runs Cold: Adventures With Reptiles and Amphibians and Ecoviews : Snakes, Snails, and Environmental Tales.