I don't want to know, nor do I know much about Texas snakes.
I' no herpetologist. I've spent enough time in the outdoors over the last six decades to know the bad ones from those that people just don't like.
But, if I would have run run across a snake in any pond, river, or lake in this area, that looked like the one in your picture, I would probably have labeled it either a common water snake or a northern water snake (probably not probable in Texas).
Because of their markings and coloration, they are frequently identified around here as being "really big copperheads" which they ain't.
The water snakes in our area get quite a bit bigger than copperheads. If you find a 4-5 footer, you can be pretty well assured it isn't a copperhead.
From my experience with water snakes, they aren't harmless, but they also are not much more than a nuisance where people with
odiophobia ophiophobia are rampant.
I've encountered a lot of them in and around water. I've never been bitten, but they can act quite aggressively. Much of their lives ares spent as being the "buzzards" of the water. They obviously don't use germ killing mouth wash. Their bites need to be thoroughly cleaned to prevent infections. If I ever get bit by one, I expect I would go to an emergency room to have the bite properly cleaned.
Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.
Time to go blow all of the debris away from around the house, decks and garages. I'm starting to see various kinds of snakes looking for love.
Here are a couple of my non-scary snake posts from over the years.
Snakeprise in the Tomato Patch Bad Attitude Slithery Ken
