This is the Eastern Mud Snake, or Farancia abacura. We found him during our field trip to Colleton County on March 31. You can easily identify this snake because of it's shiny black top side and alternating black and red patches on it's belly. The scales are smooth except in the supra-anal region where they are keeled. They usually feed on Amphiumas, other amphibians, and fish. It usually lyes in a loose, horizontal coil when you find it in southern swamps and lowlands. They borrow, but can also swim.
-Shenna McBride, College of Charleston, SC