Can you ID a baby snake?

Question

I saw a small (maybe 6 inches long) black snake with a bright orange ring around its neck in my yard. Obviously my first thought was a black snake, but I've never seen one with an orange ring. Can anyone tell me what species it is? Links would also be appreciated.

Answer 1

Yep, if you're anywhere in North America, it's a ringneck snake. There's several subspecies and variants, I'm pretty sure you can find one or another anywhere. Maximum size I've heard of is about 21 inches (some variety in the Carolinas I believe.), so chances are, it wasn't a baby, just an average adult. (Largest I've seen in person here in Florida was just under a foot.... huge for a ringneck.)

These snakes spend most of their lives under rocks and logs eating earthworms, ant larvae, grubs and the like. After rain they'll sometimes cruise around, but most people notice them in their swimming pools, to the point that I've met people who call them "swimming pool snakes", they want nothing to do with this sillyness of calling them what they look like, call them where you find them.

These are one of my favorite snakes, as a matter of fact, I have one as a tattoo. I feel they're underappreciated because people want bigger and better when it comes to snakes, when there's such beauty hiding under the logs in your backyard. (This is not saying go out and find ringnecks and keep them as pets, they're very delicate, and every one I've tried to keep ended up being let go in the yard because they didn't do well at all.)

They're completely harmless, there's a lot of debate on whether they have a mild neurotoxin or not, but even if they do, they're too small for any to enter the bloodstream. (I've had one attempted strike from a ringneck, it was a total failure, mouth is way too small to even get any skin.) They're pretty little snakes, if you see another one and you're careful with it, check out it's belly.

Oh, yeah.... Diadophis punctatis...

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Diadophis_punctatus.html

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/d.p.amabilis.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diadophis

http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=AR0093

Answer 2

A ring-necked snake ? http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/northern_ringneck_snake.htm
http://www.oplin.org/snake/fact%20pages/ring_necked_snake/ring_necked_snake.html
That's my guess but you didn't give a location.