The western black-headed snake (Tantilla planiceps), also known as the California black-headed snake, is a snake species endemic to the Californias (the U.S. State of California and the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico), as north as the San Francisco Bay and as far east as western Utah, and Texas. It lives in mostly moist pockets in mostly arid or semiarid environments and spends much of its life underground. It has a flattened head as most crevice-dwellers and is seven to fifteen inches in size. It is brown, slender, olive-gray, with a black head bordered by a white collar.
From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Is it venomous or poisonous?
We have no record of Western Black-headed Snake being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.
Easily confused with
- Tantilla yaquia
- Tantilla hobartsmithi
- Tantilla nigriceps
- Tantilla wilcoxi
- Tantilla relicta
- Aparallactus capensis — venomous
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Tantilla
- Species
- Tantilla planiceps
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