That looks like the kind of snake that I wouldn't want to encounter out on the water or at a portage! Nerodia genus? I'm not up on my herpetology 

I doubt this is a BWCA/Quetico pic.  Likely elsewhere.

Jimbo   

I'm not sure just what kind of snake it was.  We used to just call them water snakes.  We'd frequently see them while trout fishing in central WI.  They used to scare the crap out me when I'd be wading a stream and look down and see one of them about three inches away.  I've seen them as long as three feet or so.   I think they're harmless.  I took the pic of this one in northern WI this fall.  There were two of them together but I only got one in the pic.  I had to retrieve my wife out of the trees first 

Thanks pine knot.  Sure looks like a milk snake.  I see Minnesota has its own snake, a gopher snake   We have some fox snakes (pine snakes) up by our cabin.  Once in a while they get into places where they're not so welcome.  For instance, a few years ago I went into the shed and climbed onto the four wheeler.  I was about to grab the handlebars and there was one about 5 footer laying along the handlebars.  Scared the living crap outta me!!  They will also "rattle" their tails on occasion although they don't have a rattle, per se.  Seems they also take considerable pride in scaring folks half to death.  We don't harm them but I've only seen one in the last two years??

pine_knot wrote on Dec 20^th, 2020 at 10:48pm:


Too funny!!  I would have been right behind you.  Patrick McManus would call that a FBLP or Full Bore Linear Panic where you just take off running