I was surprised to see this pretty little ring-necked snake under a small board in the dry month of October. Ring-necked snakes are usually found when the ground is moist, but the rainy season had not yet begun.

Peeling old palm fronds away from the ground led me to discover two cute little ring-necked snakes on this pleasant Florida morning. This broke my snake string of seven straight Eastern Racers.

Ring-necked snakes are widespread and relatively common, but they are quite secretive so they're mostly seen by people like me who are actively looking under boards, rocks, etc. Even so, it took me several years of living in ring-necked snake territory before I finally got a photo of one. (I had seen one earlier disappearing into a crack.)

Ring-necked snakes are drab above but bright orange/red below. When cornered, they twist up tightly and flash their bright bellies. I'm not sure what survival value this has, but it presumably does them some good. This one was a small adult, at about 8 inches long.

A note on the spelling of the scientific name of this species: it's been spelled at least three different ways in various places — "vandenburghii", "vandenburgii", and "vandenburghi". Dr. Brian Crother, editor of the SSAR names list, told me in personal communication that "vandenburghi" is the correct spelling.

During 2004 I was in Florida for the entire spring ring-necked snake season, but in 2005 I made it back to Fort Ord during the right conditions and found another little beauty.