I'm unsure of whatkind of snake it is, I fish year around and every northern I've run into is more orangish than brown here in southern wv...that is why i first thought it was a copperhead. the head was too badly damaged to tell the shape. I found the snake in the road also...who knows? I didn't kill it anyways, I also believe snakes have a purpose.
this is what a nothern water snake looks like to me..I see hundreds of them on the New River.