This week we are going to spend a year in the life of the Northern Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata). This snake is distributed throughout southern Canada and the eastern United States with the northern and southern extremities of their range being Nova Scotia and northern Florida. The Northern Red-bellied Snake is fairly small with adults reaching 8-11 inches in length. Northern Red-bellied Snakes are active from May to October with mating occurring in the spring and early summer. Females give birth to 7-8 live young sometime between late July and early September. Northern Red-bellied snakes are typically found in woodlands, meadows, swamp forests, open fields and edge habitats. Their diet consists of slugs, earthworms, insects, and beetle larvae. They usually spend the day hidden under rocks and emerge during the evening, with activity peaking at night. Over the winter, the Northern Red-bellied Snake spends its time in anthills and rodent burrows. They have many natural predators and are also susceptible to mortality by lawnmowers. This individual was spotted on the main road at Murphys Point Provincial Park.