Nature Identification Thread #20- Now Paying out Steem Basic Income Memberships to Participants!

It's time for the weekly nature identification thread! Post pictures of plants, animals, rocks, or other cool stuff that you've photographed but can't identify, and I, along with anyone else who would like to help, will try and help you identify it. I'll be making some changes to it- most notably, I'll be using the SBD proceeds from this post to give out @steembasicincome memberships to people who post stuff to be identified or help me identify photos.

A ringneck snake. (The one in this photo is a San Bernardino ringneck.) Ringnecks come in a variety of closely related species found across North America. While all but one species are technically venomous, the venom is fairly weak and the fangs are backward facing, so they face little threat to humans. In addition, they're exceptionally unaggressive, and largely rely on presenting their colorful underbelly (as shown here) in a defense display to protect themselves. They're nocturnal, quite reclusive, seldom grow more than six inches long, and are known to live in colonies. There were a ton of them on the farm I grew up on in Kansas. Our cats would sometimes slurp them like spaghetti. [Image source]

Remember: The most important information you can give along with any photo to be identified is its geographical location. This narrows down the range of possibilities more than any other info you can provide.

Plants:
Along with the photo, add where you found it, the time of year, the approximate altitude, and any interesting scents or textures not caught in the photo.

Animals:
Along with the photo, add the location you found it, the time of year, the sounds it made, any interesting behaviors, and any other features not caught well in the photo.

Rocks:
Along with the photo, add the location you found it, a description of the terrain it was found in, whether it was attached to a rock outcrop or found loose on the ground or buried in the soil, a description of its texture (especially its grain size), and a description of its weight and density. Fossils are included in this category. (Despite my greatest expertise lying here, rocks tend to be some of the hardest things to identify in a photo.)

Fungi:
I will not be identifying mushrooms and fungi for foraging purposes. Mushrooms should really only be identified for foraging purposes in person and by an expert. If another contributor wishes to identify them, that's their call, but I encourage them to be similarly cautious. I might also try to identify a few fungi that are clearly not being looked at for the purposes of eating, but that'll be a case by case decision.

@phoenixwren, @shasta, @snowyknight, & @artofwisdom all earned @steembasicincome memberships for submitting to the last nature identification thread or helping identify submissions. Congratulations!