Prairie Ring-Necked Snake Missouri Department of Conservation, grey snake

Prairie ring-necked snakes are easily recognizable by their small size, uniform dark color on the back, bright yellow-orange belly, and distinct yellow ring around the neck. The prairie ring-necked snake is a small, dark snake with a yellow or orange ring around the neck that is one or two scale rows wide and usually has a hind edge of black. The upperside (dorsal) color is normally shiny dark gray but may be gray brown. The top of the head is usually darker than the body. The belly is yellow with numerous irregularly placed, small black spots; the belly changes to a bright orange or red along the underside of the tail. The body scales are smooth; the anal plate (last belly scale, which covers the anal opening) is divided. Young ring-necked snakes have a darker dorsal color, which is often shiny black. When first uncovered, a specimen may tightly coil its tail and expose its brightly colored underside to draw attention away from its head. This small snake is not known to bite a person, but when first handled and alarmed, it will discharge a pungent, unpleasant musk mixed with fecal matter. Similar species: In all, ring-necked snakes of the Diadophis punctatus lineage contain 12 subspecies or geographic races. The prairie ring-necked snake, described above, is the most common and widespread of Missouri's two subspecies. The Mississippi ring-necked snake (D. punctatus stictogenys) is the subspecies found in southeastern Missouri. It is slightly smaller, its yellow neck ring may be narrower or interrupted (broken) on the back, it has a yellow belly, and the small black belly spots are usually in 2 or 3 lengthwise rows. Where the ranges of our two subspecies overlap (in a two-county-wide, northeast-to-southwest line from Perry and Cape Girardeau counties to Carter and Ripley counties), there is a potential area of intergradation between the two races, and individuals in that zone may show characteristics of both subspecies.