Saturday, August 12, 2017

Corralitas Drive: Ring-Necked Snake V.S. Cat

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  A neighbor's cat found a tiny snake to play with.  Use the garden hose for scale.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  It was a fast moving, squirmy little thing, fascinating the cat.
Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  The snake was about a foot long, the width of a pencil, olive green, dark head, light ring around the neck.  It was a Ring-Necked Snake. 
Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  The snake made a break for nearby rocks where it made its getaway,  distracting the cat by wiggling and curling/uncurling the bright red underside of it tail.

Ring-Necked Snakes in our neighborhood live in the leaf litter below big trees and lots of shade.  They seem to prefer areas with more moisture on Riverside Place, Corralitas Drive and Red Car Canyon.  According to California Herps, they eat Slender Salamanders - also found in all the same habitat in the neighborhood.

Learn more about Ring-Necked Snakes: California Herps.

Worth noting on California Herps is the conservation status.  USDA Forest Service lists the subspecies as "Sensitive;" Nature Serve State Ranking: S2, "Imperiled in the state because of rarity due to very restricted range, very few populations (often 20 or fewer), steep declines, or other factors making it very vulnerable to extirpation from the state."  

Luckily this snake got away!

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-24-17 and backdated to the date the photos were shot and originally published on Twitter.