Battle of the Species - Snakes, in a Pool!

As we were doing work around the pool Saturday morning (there is a new summer ritual that needs to begin – more in a future post) I noticed some movement over by the gate. Chris, who was visiting this weekend, went over to check it out, and found a little ringneck snake, shown here.

Last summer, right about this time, we were conducting the home inspection visit to the cabin, and when we opened up the trap door for the pool equipment, down inside there I found a 12-inch long one of these. Maybe it was a parent to this one, which, at about 5 inches long, is probably only a week or two old. In one of the photos, Chris's new Suunto altimeter watch (I still want a Casio) is shown next to the snake for scale.

There is not much on Wikipedia on this species, I had to go to HerpNet to find more details. But it is a small constrictor type that is harmless to humans. Its main defense from humans is to try and get away – not at all like the black rat snake I battled in the past.

There are 12 subspecies in the US, ours was probably a Southern Ringneck. The species can range up to 30+ inches long, but so far the ones I’ve seen are much smaller. It is against the law in Iowa to harm or kill them – an interesting finding.

Its markings include the distinctive orange or yellow band behind its head (the one I saw last year had a band that was uneven in thickness, which is a rare variation among individuals); the underside is the same color as the band; the underside may be spotted with black; and the tail end is usually red – which is exposed when the snake feels threatened.

The front yard of the cabin probably makes for an ideal habitat for them, with rotting wood, and moist rich soils. They eat bugs, amphibians, and even small rodents.

After we took a closer look at it, we encouraged it to go back into the yard…in the future we’ll no doubt find a few dead snakes in the pool skimmer, but I wanted this beneficial one back out there hunting rodents.

Now we are five for five on snakes – all that I have encountered in the yard (and in the house!) are harmless varieties. Knock on wood!