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he was on the side of the road in south alabama. it was about 1 1/2 feet long and looked like a black rat snake but the checkers on its belly were black and dark red, it was a beutiful snake.

From the belly markings, I'd say that was a midland water snake.

This site covers all the venomous snakes in your area.

~~Greg~~
Venomous Snakes of Florida

I would say that it "may" have still been a young black rat. The reason is, is because I caught..err..rather my girlfriend caught one today that was nearly 6 feet long and the underside of it was checkered with black and faint but noticeable red. This specimen was the first rat I ever noticed the red on.

an eastern indigo not a rat

One thing I'll point out is that a 1 1/2 foot Black Rat snake will look nothing like the adult in the pictures. A BR that short would be a young'un, perhaps a yearling, and would have rather bold dorsal blotches.

If the dorsal pattern is dark and rather uniform, I'd probably go with some type of water snake, but not necessarily a Midland as it would show a cross-banding pattern. Michaelb

it wasnt a black rat it had a diff head structure than a rat snake,

It sounds like a mud snake. They are shiny (almost irridescent) black above, have smooth scales, pointy tails, small heads, and very little neck constriction. They're bellies are checkered w/black & red, and the red extends a short distance up a from the belly on the sides. They average about 4 or 5 feet long.

http://forum.kingsnake.com/whats/messages/7204.html

I found this photo of a mud snake in the old forum (hope it shows up). PB

if not, the belly markings described do hint some type of water snake.

it was a mud snake, that pic is exactly what i saw thanks