tristanclark's Identifications

I don’t know what this could be… Small, 2.5 inch individual, but clearly a gravid female. My initial thought was Black Mountain, which is a bit outta range, and then I looked at the underside… the belly appears to be blackish, with no pattern, but the eggs pushing on the skin seems to make the skin look lighter… Plain black belly should rule out Northern, Black Mountain, and Blue Ridge Dusky. The size and pattern rules out Black-bellied, as I have seen larval Black-bellies larger than this one, and it was right small to be a Seal, and it really doesn’t look Sealy to me… it doesn’t seem like a Shovelnose, and it was under a long along a dried muddy creek, which I wouldn’t expect a Shovelnose to tolerate. So, am I missing something?