ring-necked snake

ring-necked snake, (Diadophis punctatus), small terrestrial snake (family Colubridae), found widely in North America, that sports a ring or collar of contrasting colour around its neck or nape. The ring is most frequently white to yellow on an otherwise uniform background of brown, gray, or black. The ring-necked snake is found throughout the eastern and western United States, southeastern Canada, and northeastern Mexico. There are several subspecies, and most are small, usually less than 38 cm (15 inches) in total length—though the regal ring-necked snake (D. punctatus regalis) may exceed 46 cm (18 inches) in length. In some ring-necked snakes the light collar is large and prominent in the young, but it then slowly shrinks and eventually disappears as the snake matures. The function of a ringed neck is unknown, though it presumably has some camouflaging or signaling purpose. Ring-necked snakes forage within surface litter for worms, arthropods, frogs, salamanders, and other small reptiles.

Dozens of unrelated snakes throughout the world have similar collar marking patterns. In the European ringed or grass snake (Natrix natrix), the collar is dark brown to black and bordered on one edge with white (see water snake).