We come across these little snakes regularly along the road. Especially lately, as the weather is cooling, they like to hang out on the asphalt. They are tiny snakes - the size of a very long worm - but they are polite and charming and I love seeing them.
The Latin is Diadophis punctatus. They can have yellow or red rings. The ones I see along the road have yellow rings, but I've seen some much bigger ones in the barn with red rings.
What you can't see in my pics is the spectacular color of the belly - bright red or yellow. Go here for more great pics of the ring neck.
They can get to be as big as 2 feet long and I've seen a few here that big, but mostly we see the tiny ones along the road. If threatened, they show their bellies and eventually will bite. Be polite to them.
