A long, thin striped garter-snake relative that hunts frogs along the edges of clean ponds and streams in eastern North America.
Description
The ribbon snake is a slender, dark brown to black snake usually under a metre long, with three bright yellow or cream stripes — one along the spine and one along each flank — extending unbroken from neck to tail. The tail makes up almost a third of the total length.
Behavior
Highly active by day in spring and summer, ribbon snakes hunt frogs and tadpoles along shorelines, darting into the water and over emergent vegetation. They are quick to flee and rarely bite. Females give birth to live young in late summer near the same water bodies in which they hunt.
Range
Distributed across the eastern United States from Maine to Florida and west to the Mississippi River, with adjacent populations in southern Ontario and Quebec. Several subspecies divide the broad range into geographic forms.