Snakes in South Carolina

Dark crossbands at the front of the body giving way to alternating blotches towards the tail.

Dark crossbands the whole length of the body on a tan, grey or reddish ground.

Adults are plain dark olive, grey or brown above with no pattern at all, and a completely unmarked belly that is yellow, orange or red.

Adults are glossy black above with a faint trace of blotching visible in strong light, and a white or grey chin and throat.

Bold red or orange-brown saddles outlined in black on an orange, tan or grey ground.

Red-brown saddles with crisp black outlines on a pale grey or tan ground.

Bright red, black and yellow rings — but the red rings are bordered by black on both sides, and the snout is red.

Glossy blue-black with narrow cream or yellow bands that fork and join along the sides, forming a chain-link pattern.

Three pale lengthwise stripes — one down the spine and one along each side — on a dark ground, often with a checkerboard of dark spots between them.

Highly variable — blotched brown and tan, solid grey, olive, orange or plain black.

Uniform satin black, slate blue, olive or brown above with a plain pale belly and usually a white chin.

Typically dark at the head and fading to tan or pink towards the tail, where the scale pattern resembles a braided whip.

Uniform bright leaf-green above with a plain white, cream or pale yellow belly.

Plain brown or grey-brown with a slightly paler stripe down the back, edged by two rows of small dark dots.

Grey, brown or nearly black above, sometimes with a faint pale stripe, and a startlingly bright orange or red belly.

Smooth slate-grey or blue-black above with a bright yellow or orange ring around the neck and a matching yellow, orange or red belly, sometimes spotted with black.

Uniform glossy brown above with a pink or salmon belly, the two colours meeting in a straight line along the side.

Shiny dark grey to purplish-black, the same thickness from end to end, with no visible neck.