It's a salamander, not a snake See the legs?

Here is a link that might be useful: Alabama salamanders

Carol, thanks for your input! When my BF saw the pics, he said the same thing - salamander. I don't know how I didn't see the legs while I was watching it "slither" around the dirt but he saw them in the picture, like you did. (Well, yes I do know how - my sunglasses aren't bifocals!) But I insisted it had scales and its' tail didn't taper so dramatically. He said maybe it's a skink and we went to the link you posted, actually. Sure enough, we found him, in the lizard section. He's a ground skink.

What a cute little thing! I thought skinks were like snipes - make-believe animals to tease people with, but now I know they are real and happily living in my yard.

Very cool!