Eastern Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus)

Dead individual found (injured by another animal) on a dirt road at a dense mixed forest edge (a seasonal stream nearby). It was being eaten by ants, so I relocated it for photographs.

This species is very strange as it is almost entirely fossorial, burrowing underground and hunting earthworms (and other soft-bodied prey). When attacked by predators, it uses its sharp-tipped tail as a defense. It is a protected species in Georgia (and threatened/imperiled in several other states).