Praise the Lord.
And pass the shovel.
I still don’t feel it was a moccasin, but now my eyes are peeled for something that may not be what it seems.
Reasons why not:
It was crawling with flies but no reported smell, which is the first giveaway when you’re trying to ID a moc, DOA or alive. You’d have dogs from all over trying to roll in this snake.
Wrong color. Missing markings/stripings.
Didn’t hiss and coil up, in fact, laid its tail over body in a position which would inhibit coiling and striking.
Skinny portion of post-cloaca/*enis tail too long by about three inches for a moc.
If it’s not a moc, it may be mimicing moc appearance (but not behavior or biology) in order to be avoided.