Pacific Ringneck Snake

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This is a fine and colorful reptile that I frequently come across on my visits to the Golden State.

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Adult Pacific Ringneck Snakes are normally around 11 to 16 inches long and about the diameter of a pencil. They have smooth scales and are usually a dark olive green color on their backs, although they can vary from brown to almost black.

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These snakes are secretive and nocturnal, so they are rarely seen out during the daytime. I usually find them under logs, rocks or flagstones and sometimes in leaf litter.

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True to there name, they generally have a bright ring around their neck. They are well known for their unique defense posture of curling up their tails and exposing their bright red-orange underside when threatened.

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This reptile prefers moist habitats and can be found in wet meadows, rocky hillsides, riparian coridors, gardens, farmland, grassland, chaparral, mixed coniferous forests and woodlands.

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The diet of the Pacific Ringneck Snake consists primarily of small salamanders, earthworms, and slugs – but they also sometimes eat lizards, frogs, and smaller juvenile snakes of other species.

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Females lay their eggs in the Summer, sometimes doing so in a communal nest. In the Winter, hibernating individuals often aggregate in groups.

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As a species, Ringneck Snakes have one of the largest geographic ranges of any species of snake in North America and are represented by several subspecies.

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