Along with a Common Watersnake, this was the other diminutive serpent we found under river-adjacent rocks that we had hoped would be sheltering crawfish snakes.

These little snakes make do on a diet of snails, slugs, and earthworms. Yum!

We were looking for Red-bellied Snakes (Storeria occipitomaculata) in perfect Red-bellied Snake habitat, but no Red-bellied Snakes were to be found. Our consolation prize was this close relative.

Something tells me that these snakes have a distinctive posture while resting on gravel roads near wetlands.