Description: A small (total length: 20 - 60 cm [8 - 24 in.]), slender snake with a dorsal color that generally is slate-gray or gray-blue. The ventral surface is entirely red or red-orange with black spots, and the ventral surface of the tail is bright red-orange. The head is darker than the body, and usually it is set off from the body by a conspicuous yellow or orange neck ring. How-ever, in the Regal subspecies the ring is often faint or absent. Similar appearing black-headed snakes may have light-colored neck rings, but these rings are not red, and the ventral surface of these other species is not entirely red with black spots. When alarmed, these snakes will coil and shake their tail while displaying the red ventral surface.
Diet: Feeds on earthworms, slugs, frogs, and lizards. Mildly venomous to its small prey.
Habitat: Usually found in moist areas. In the arid West, this species occurs in mountains near permanent water or in riparian areas from 730 m (2,400 ft) elevation up to the aspen-fir belt (about 2,700 m [9,000 ft]).
Range: Widely distributed throughout much of the U.S. except the upper
Midwest. This subspecies occurs in eastern Nevada and western Arizona in isolated mountain ranges.
Comments: While mildly venomous to its small prey, this species is harmless to humans.