Northern Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi) adult 4/17/12 by David D&M, MD
Not aggressive, allows handling. 9-13" as adult. Beneficial, eats slugs and worms. Live young (3-1/2") resemble Ringneck Snake (next pic) with light band behind neck.
great collection of sample colors:
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Storeria+dekayi
close match:
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=I_TPN4057&res=640
morphology (physical description) from:
http://eol.org/pages/790510/details
"The brown snake is a fairly small snake that rarely exceeds 15 inches in length (Ditmars 1936). It has a stout body with large eyes and heavily keeled scales (Collins 1987). Storeria dekayi is typically found to be a grayish brown color with a lighter streak on its back that is bordered on each side with black dots. The belly of the brown snake is a pinkish white color. Typically there are 17 scale rows at midbody and the anal plate is divided (Harding 1997). Males and females generally look the same, but males tend to have longer tails (Harding 1997). There are several other subspecies of Storeria dekayi that look slightly different, but there is no textual evidence of any seasonal variation. Young brown snakes are small, about 3 1/2 inches long on average and are black or dark gray in color (Simon 1979). A distinguishing characteristic of the young is a light grayish white colored ring found around the neck. At this age they are sometimes confused with ring necked snakes, but are distinguished by their keeled scales (Ditmars 1936)."
More at article link.
shedding:
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/snakes/qt/snakeshsigns.htm
http://animalcentral.net/blog/complete-vs-incomplete-shedding-in-snakes/
fungal disease:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/02/21/Fungus-hits-endangered-snakes-in-Illinois/UPI-99791329862998/
To get an idea of size, I'm using the small, trifoliate leaves in the picture:
They look like Creeping Buttercup:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=6246+3041+2844+0048
and
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0508+0161
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RARE3&photoID=rare3_001_avd.tif
great collection of sample colors:
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Storeria+dekayi
close match:
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=I_TPN4057&res=640
morphology (physical description) from:
http://eol.org/pages/790510/details
"The brown snake is a fairly small snake that rarely exceeds 15 inches in length (Ditmars 1936). It has a stout body with large eyes and heavily keeled scales (Collins 1987). Storeria dekayi is typically found to be a grayish brown color with a lighter streak on its back that is bordered on each side with black dots. The belly of the brown snake is a pinkish white color. Typically there are 17 scale rows at midbody and the anal plate is divided (Harding 1997). Males and females generally look the same, but males tend to have longer tails (Harding 1997). There are several other subspecies of Storeria dekayi that look slightly different, but there is no textual evidence of any seasonal variation. Young brown snakes are small, about 3 1/2 inches long on average and are black or dark gray in color (Simon 1979). A distinguishing characteristic of the young is a light grayish white colored ring found around the neck. At this age they are sometimes confused with ring necked snakes, but are distinguished by their keeled scales (Ditmars 1936)."
More at article link.
shedding:
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/snakes/qt/snakeshsigns.htm
http://animalcentral.net/blog/complete-vs-incomplete-shedding-in-snakes/
fungal disease:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/02/21/Fungus-hits-endangered-snakes-in-Illinois/UPI-99791329862998/
To get an idea of size, I'm using the small, trifoliate leaves in the picture:
They look like Creeping Buttercup:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=6246+3041+2844+0048
and
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0508+0161
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RARE3&photoID=rare3_001_avd.tif
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