Uhmmm...what is this?

A few days ago, my wife and I went walking along the park trail near our house, and as we were going along our way, she happened to look down and saw something making its way across the path.

"Eric! What is that?" her words tinged with disgust and fright,as she grabbed me tightly by my arm.

"What is what?!" I said in typical disinterested husband fashion.

"That!" she exclaimed, forcefully pointing down at the ground with her free hand.

I looked down, and saw this:

"I don't know what that is" I said to her, as I was as perplexed as she was, having lived in North Carolina for over a decade and never encountering some as strange as this; but I was curious.

Was it a copperhead?

Was it a water moccasin?

A harmless water snake?

Some strange parasitic worm looking for its next host?

After failing to find a satisfying answer, I decided to do the next best thing, and snap a picture of it.

"Let's keep going and finish up"I said. " It's starting to get hot out here."