Have you ever seen a red streak in a common grass snake in central mo?

Question

Have you ever seen a red streak in a common grass snake in central mo?

Answer 1

Based on what you said, I am going to guess you saw a  western ribbon snake, mainly since there is nothing called a grass snake in the U.S. There is a European grass snake however. People in the U.S. give the name grass snake to any small snake they see, whether it earth snakes, brown snakes, garter snakes, green snakes, or ribbon snakes. Anyway, I've seen western ribbons with bright red stripes down there back, even brighter than the one in this link:

http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm?http://www.gpnc.org/WRSnake.htm

Here's a western ribbon snake I photographed showing the bright red stripe. Is this the snake you saw?

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm203...

Another strong possibility and just as common in your area as ribbon snakes, if not more, are red sided garter snakes.

http://www.werc.usgs.gov/fieldguide/thsi...

Answer 2

That sounds like a common garter snake. They are EXTREMELY common in Missouri. Some of the smaller ones will gain their red before their yellow stripes, or the yellow will be very low on their belly, making it hard to see.