What we humans generally believe to reflect as intelligence in snakes seems to be a snake's visual awareness to its surroundings and and how they respond to the presence of a human. Snakes that are nocturnal or crepuscular (dawn/dusk) tend not to have good eyesight (why would they need it?). Without good eyesight a snake will not seem to pay much attention to distant movement in a room or field and ignore a human until it is a very obvious threat. Diurnal snakes, however, tend to have quite good eyesight and are usually very aware of their visual surroundings. Afterall, they not only locate prey partially using their eyesight, they also need to respond to visual predators that can spot a meal from large distances. This trend is not at all representative of the snake's actual intelligence and cognitive abilities.

Look at Racers vs. Ratsnakes. I've heard ratsnakes up here in the north referred to as being about as intelligent as a loaf of bread. Ratsnakes, generally speaking, are most active at night when temperatures allow for it. Racers, on the other hand, are thought of as being very aware and intelligent. In captivity they will make eye contact and follow you through the room with their head and notice you coming from a distance. Doing field work with a small population of racers over several years I noticed that a racer who had been captured a few times by a single person could single out the person who had caught them before from a group of 5 people or so standing around the snake, and would follow that specific person's movements. Racers happen to be diurnal. They also have raised ridge above the eye which gives them a smarter-looking face.

The nocturnal/diurnal trend is one that I've noticed in a variety of snakes. Again, nothing to do with actual intelligence, but to a human the diurnal snakes just look smarter.

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