A tiny, pink-bellied burrower of eastern North American woodlands that looks more like an earthworm than a typical snake.
Description
The eastern worm snake is a glossy chestnut or chocolate-brown snake under 30 cm with a bright pink belly extending up the lower flanks. The eyes are tiny, the head is barely set off from the neck, and the body is uniformly slim — features all suited to a life spent in the soil.
Behavior
Almost entirely fossorial, the worm snake spends most of its life burrowing through soft woodland soil and rotting wood in search of earthworms, which form nearly its entire diet. When disturbed it presses its pointed tail tip against the captor as if to give a sting, though it cannot bite.
Range
Distributed across the eastern United States from New England south through the Appalachian region to the Florida panhandle and west to the Mississippi River. Two subspecies cover the range, and a closely related western worm snake replaces it further west.