For me the easiest way to tell if a snake is a water snake brown snake ect ect is to look at the tail of it. If the tail is long ad skinny it's likely to be non venomous but if the tail is short and stubby it's probably a copper head. After I kill the snake I come back to the body about two hours later and open it's mouth with a really long stick and look inside if their are fangs and venom sacks I'm 110 percent positive that it's a copper head.
