Check out those bold labial stripes on this broad banded water snake. Those dark lines along the lips are one of the easiest ways to tell a harmless water snake from a cottonmouth. Water snakes show crisp labial stripes and smaller head scales, while cottonmouths have large “hood” scales, a dark Zorro-style eye band, and a thicker/blockier head. I'll include a graphic in the comments to further help differentiating these species. 🐍 | Justin Doll