S. dekayi is native to Southern Ontario and Quebec, most of the eastern half of the United States, through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and possibly El Salvador.

[5] Dorsally, S. dekayi is brown to gray with a lighter center stripe bordered by small black spots; ventrally, it is lighter brown or pink with small black dots at the ends of the ventral scales.

[8] Females exceed males in snout–vent length and number of ventral scales while males exceed females in tail length, head dimensions, and number of subcaudal scales.

[18] S. dekayi is a prey item for larger snakes, large frogs and toads, birds, and many mammals including weasels and invasive housecats.

[citation needed] The specific name, dekayi, is in honor of American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay (1792–1851), who collected the first specimen on Long Island, New York, while the generic name, Storeria, honors American zoologist David Humphreys Storer.

[22][23] This is the only North American snake whose binomial is a double honorific – that is, both the generic name and the specific name honor people.