The body color of the black snake is greenish brown, tan or dark brown on the back. There are two black lines running through the body on the back. There are two rows of light yellowish brown vertical stripes with wide scales between the black lines. The posterior edge of the dorsal scales in the front section of the body is black in color, the abdominal scales in the front section are mostly creamy yellow or khaki, and the back section gradually changes from light gray-black to light brown-black.

After coming to Shanghai in 2001, the one I saw most often was the black-browed snake. , followed by the black-tip snake, but the black-tip snake is mostly seen in Zhejiang. The first time I saw the black-spotted snake in Shanghai was at the Hanxiang Water Expo in 2022. It was waiting for an opportunity to catch the black-spotted side-folded frog in the water. After waiting for a while, there was no hope, and it got into the grass. The second time was on April 5, 2023, near the construction site of Pujiang First Bay. After encountering a disturbance, it got into the grass. This place will soon become a construction site. The chances of it and its kind surviving are slim, but I have no way to save them.

Black Snake often moves in farmland, sometimes in paddy fields or streams. I have also seen it sunbathing in the lee of the cliff below on Tianmu Mountain. Move quickly, react quickly, and are good at escaping. It is docile, does not bite, and is non-venomous. When the temperature rises to around 20°C, they go out to look for food and are active in summer.