What snake?

[smc]

I was down near Smith Mt Lake in Southern Va last week and saw a snake crossing the road that I didn't recognise - it was fairly small - around 2-3 ft long perhaps and was completely black. Someone said it was likely a water moccasin - anyone able to confirm or deny that?

[Vegetatoboaotaku]

black rats get pretty black pretty early.... they're fairly dark at 2ft and most are almost black at 3ft....
there's my bet...

[Vegetatoboaotaku]

unless you're talking about cowsuckers... but that's in kentucky of course...

[Stormyva]

Hmmm a water moccasin... now there is a surprise. One thing you will learn is that if it slithers and doesnt have a pattern and it doesnt rattle then it's a moccasin, or at least with most of the public.
Veg was probably right with the black rat, but it could have been a racer too.
Here's a link to the VHS website's snake page, it might help you out in spotting what it was....
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/snakes_of_virginia.htm

[John_White]

The eastern cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus) isn't found as far west as Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.


Besides the blackrat snake the snake you saw could of been a Melanistic Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) which are fairly common in that area.

	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

[JuliusSqueezer]

You have those up there too John? cool... There is a pretty good population in the South Ga / North Florida area too. But I've never seen a black hog anywhere near here....just the normal brown ones.

	Hog Island Boa hogg

[lethargiic]

o0 i wouldnt mind having one of those...that's pretty spiffy

[John_White]

I would expect to find the darker animals in the cooler, mountainous regions and the lighter animals in the warmer regions but that doesn't appear to be true. Eastern hogs from Virginia and Maryland vary greatly in coloration, from black to brown, copper and red. There's even a population of unusally red hogs near Roanoke, VA

	Hog Island Boa hogg