Kids found a random snake... can anyone identify?

What a beautiful little snake!

My son has caught a couple ring snakes. They are soooooo pretty.

Originally Posted by Nanci

Don't they flash their brightly-colored bellies to ward off predators?

Don't know but makes sense.

they do like to coil up part of their body and turn it over as a defense mechanism. i catch these realllllly often.. last year my boyfriend found a gravid female!

Originally Posted by Nanci

Don't they flash their brightly-colored bellies to ward off predators?

Pretty much. They (Diadophis) are a rear-fanged genus. The genus as a whole could/needs some decent taxonomic review. A few, possibly many, feel a few subspecies could be elevated to full species status; particularly the regal ringneck of the SW US. Regals can get large, exceeding 30 inches, and have been documented incompasitating smaller snakes with their venom. Years ago a few AZ guys had posted photos of a large regal eating a smallish Sonoran gopher snake over on a field herping forum (forget which forum).

Here's a 2ftish animal found by a friend some years ago in threat posture:

nice pics - thanks a lot!

You know, if these guys would get to be about 4 ft long and feed on mice, they would be extremely popular in the pet trade when people started breeding them.

They actually are pretty attractive looking critters.

Originally Posted by HerpsOfNM

Regals can get large, exceeding 30 inches, and have been documented incompasitating smaller snakes with their venom.

How venomous are these snakes?

Originally Posted by WestCoast_Redneck

How venomous are these snakes?

That's a good question. How harmful is the venom to humans? Are we talking about a minor sting, or keep anti-v on standby?

The ones we have around here aren't big enough to bite a human......thus, I let my 6 year old catch.