Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake

Description:

Smooth, shiny scales, not keeled. The ground color is cream or yellowish and the body is circled with black bands, usually fewer than 25, and most often with narrow red crossbands between them. Usually less than 45 bands. Many black bands completely encircle the body. The head is narrow with a large spade-like scale on the tip of a flat shovel-like snout, acountersunk lower jaw, and nasal valves.

Notes:

Nocturnal. Burrows underground in daytime, but occasionally found by day in shaded areas. Smooth scales, flat shout, concave abdomen, and nasal valves are adaptations that allow for a quick swimming movement through loose sand, with an s-shaped, side-to-side movement. Often seen crossing desert roads at night.