Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found this ring neck today (Jan 3rd). The weather report said it was 62 degrees, but it felt warmer in the sun. He was curled up under a rock...I just took some pics and put him back.

As I was turning stuff over I came across a lot of ants. I'm in Southern California so I'm not talking about fire ants or anything, but I was wondering if snakes would be willing to hang out under cover that is so filled with ants. I know there is a problem with fire ants killing snakes in TX (and I'm sure other areas), but these ants are pretty harmless... to humans anyway. If you notice that some cover you've placed turns into an ant colony, do you move it?

Just wondering,

Jake

i just got back from a herping trip in s. florida a couple weeks ago, and i can tell you we didnt find any snakes or anything under tin and trash that was taken over by ants.
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-Mike Martin
North Carolina

It's not common to find ringnecks or any other snakes under cover that has a fair number of ants.

This observation was noted in Roger Conant's The Reptiles of Ohio published in 1951 in The American Midland Naturalist

I have also found it to be true in any field herping or research that I do

Maybe that little ringneck may have been looking for some ant larvae to eat? Being so small, it probably would have trouble eating any amphibians other than small slender salamanders. Just a thought.

kento