Description: One of the smallest snakes in California, about 3.5 - 15.5 inches long. A small, thin, snake with a flat head and smooth, shiny scales. The body color is brownish or beige and unmarked. The top of the head is dark brown or black, with a faint light collar between the dark cap and the body color. This collar may or may not have a border of dark dots. The dark color usually drops below the mouthline behind the corner of the jaw. The belly is whitish with a reddish stripe that does not extend all the way to the edge of the ventral scales.

Habitat: Occurs in grassland, chaparral, oak and oak-pine woodland, deserts. Along the rocky edges of streas and washes. Often found beneath rocks, plant debris, and other surface cover.

Range: The known range of this species in California and elsewhere is spotty due to its secretive nature. Its range is probably less disjointed than the records show. It occurs along the coast of southern California, east and north to the desert side of the mountains as far as Whitewater Canon, and north through the south Coast Range to the San Francisco Bay where it has been recorded just south of San Jose, east of Mt. Diablo, and east of Livermore. Documented in 2014 in the Caliente Mountains in San Luis Obispo County.

Found in these States: CA

Diet: Eats millipedes, centipedes, and insects.

Reproduction: Not well understood. Females are oviparous, laying a clutch of 1-3 eggs is laid from May to June. This probably means that the young are hatched in late Summer.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Taxonomy: