Mud Snake, or Hoop Snake, the name of two species of glossy, bright-colored, nonpoisonous snakes of the southeastern United States. Other names are stinging snake and horn snake. The names hoop snake and stinging snake originated from a false belief that the snake rolled like a hoop at great speed, killing both animals and plants with its stinging tail. The hornlike tip on the snake's tail is harmless.
The common mud snake is 3 1/2 to 7 feet (1 to 2 m) long, and is black above (often bluish before shedding), reddish beneath. It is found in swampy southern lowlands. The somewhat shorter rainbow snake, bluish-black with reddish or yellow stripes, lives along the coast from southern Maryland to eastern Louisiana. Mud snakes feed chiefly on salamanders, eels, frogs, and small fish. The young, hatched from eggs, are about eight inches (20 cm) long.
The common mud snake is Farancia abacura; rainbow, Abastor erythrogrammus. Both belong to the family Colubridae.