A handsome rear-fanged Japanese natricine snake with unusual neck glands that sequester toxins from the toads it eats.
Description
The yamakagashi is a slim olive-green to brown colubrid usually around 80 cm with a row of dark squares along the back and a striking yellow collar that fades with age. Bright red or orange flushes line the front portion of the body in many populations.
Behavior
The yamakagashi sequesters bufadienolide toxins from the toads it eats and stores them in special glands along the neck, releasing them onto an attacker that bites the neck. Bites from this rear-fanged snake itself have caused several human deaths in Japan due to a powerful coagulopathic venom.
Range
Distributed widely across East Asia, including the Japanese archipelago, the Korean peninsula, eastern China, and southeastern Russia. The species is locally common around paddy fields where toads are abundant.
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