Diadophis punctatus modestus - San Bernardino Ring-necked Snake

Mildly Venomous Not considered dangerous to humans. Enlarged non-grooved teeth in the rear of the upper jaw and mild venom which may help to incapacitate small prey.

Size 8 - 34 inches long (20 - 87cm.) Appearance A small, thin snake with smooth scales. Gray, blue-gray, blackish, or dark olive dorsal coloring, with a bright orange to reddish underside, speckled with black markings. The underside of the tail is a bright reddish orange. A narrow orange band around the neck, 1.5 - 2 scale rows wide. Behavior Secretive - usually found under the cover of rocks, wood, bark, boards and other surface debris, but occasionally seen moving on the surface on cloudy days, at dusk, or at night. When disturbed, coils its tail like a corkscrew, exposing the underside which is usually bright red. It may also smear musk and cloacal contents.

Diet Eats slender salamanders and other small salamanders, tadpoles, small frogs, small snakes, lizards, worms, slugs, and insects. The mild venom may help to incapacitate prey. Reproduction Lays eggs in the summer, sometimes in a communal nest. Range This subspecies is endemic to California. Found along the southern California coast from the Santa Barbara area south along the coast to San Diego County, and inland into the San Bernardino mountains. Habitat Prefers moist habitats, including wet meadows, rocky hillsides, gardens, farmland, grassland, chaparral, mixed coniferous forests, woodlands. Taxonomic Notes Many herpetologists no longer recognize the traditional morphologically-based subspecies of Diadophis punctatus, pending a thorough molecular study of the whole species. One ongoing study (Feldman and Spicer, 2006, Mol. Ecol. 15:2201-2222) has found all of the D. punctatus subspecies in California (except D. p. regalis) to be indistinguishable. It is likely that D. punctatus is composed of several distinct lineages that do not follow the geographic ranges of the subspecies.