Fast facts
Common name: Ring-necked snake
Scientific name: Diadophis punctatus
Range in MA: Statewide
Conservation status: Common, not listed
Fun fact: Can roll their tails in a tight coil and elevate to display bright red or yellow coloration beneath
Description
These small, smooth-scaled snakes can be colored slate-gray to bluish-black above, sometimes with opalescent highlights, with a bright yellow belly and a bright yellow ring just behind the head. Bellies are usually bordered on each side by a row of black spots, with sometimes a broken line of spots down midline of their bellies. Adults range from 9–20+ inches.
Habitat
Found statewide, ring-necked snakes are secretive but common. They live in damp areas of forested habitats or in rocky, damp areas bordering forest habitats. Mostly nocturnal, they are rarely seen by day, but they can be seen crossing roads, paths, and sidewalks at night. They are among the few snake species that sometimes live in houses, especially those with stone foundations and damp, dirt-floored basements or crawl spaces.
Life history
Mating may take place in spring or fall. Clutches of 1–10 eggs are deposited in June or July. Several females may lay eggs in a communal nest, often in a moist, well-decayed log or beneath leaf litter in damp, often rocky locations. Young hatch in about 8 weeks at a length of about 4 inches. Ring-necked snakes eat small salamanders, worms, insects, and slugs. Although they are not true constrictors, they often wrap a coil around their prey. They also have a pair of elongated teeth toward the rear of their upper jaws, which may have evolved to better hold prey.
As with many small snake species, much remains to be learned about the life history, limiting factors, and local range of this species.