Hello,
A week ago I came across this little guy in far northern California, near the town of Dunsmuir, in the Cascade range, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet.

My grandson first spotted him moving along a small creek and approached him. The snake was very aggressive,a nd turned to move toward my grandson (age 6). My grandsn reached for him (bad Idea I know - I have talked to him about being more cautious around any wild snake), and the snake struck aggressively, and attempted to bite at my grandson's shoe.

I saw the activity and went to take a look. I have grown up in the valley floor not far from here, but have never encountered this species.

I am familiar with venomous snakes in California and could see it was not a pit viper or other dangerous species I knew of, so I picked him up. He acted aggressively toward me, but when I picked him up he became much more docile.

Anyway, he is a pretty little thing - my grandson and I looked at him for a couple minutes then released him where we found him.

Any help ID'ing the species would be appreciated thanks!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wt2gUJiG1JvUZbLf6

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