Lookie what I found! (ID help?)

Took the dog for a hike today and stumbled across this little guy.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...-3984x2241.jpg

I think it is a elaphe obsoleta. He froze up instead of raced off so that's why I was thinking rat snake instead of racer...

Or maybe he is a coluber constrictor? Or something else?

I am in western NC, and he was spotted around 2pm.

I don't think it's a black rat. It looks too 'angry' and the scales seem rougher and larger. It looks a lot like a black racer to me.

Should have gone with my instinct! I thought he was a racer at first, then talked myself out of it with his unracer-y behavior.

Then again it IS February, it was nice out but that could explain his sluggishness.

Either way it was pretty cool to stumble across him so early in the year.