This is a young southern banded watersnake, Nerodia fasciata fasciata, basking in Grand Bay WMA just east of Valdosta, Georgia. Having said that, there's a good chance this snake (and all the other bandeds at Grand Bay) have hybridized with the Florida banded watersnake, Nerodia fasciata pictiventris. According to range maps, this is the domain of the southern subspecies; however, on at least one individual, I counted ventral scales that parred with the pictiventris subspecies and not the fasciata subspecies. In other words, they "look" like southern bandeds to me, but I suspect if one were to genetically comb this population they'd find a mix of the two subspecies (along with some individuals from each).
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
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