A long three-hour hike down the creeks and through the woods netted quite a few interesting things but it was only as I was approaching the west fence gate that I came upon this fellow:



It’s the first eastern kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula getula) of this pattern that I’ve found around here (actually, it’s probably the first period). So you can imagine how excited I was. With its chain pattern of pale yellow banding on jet black it’s a very handsome snake.

Hatchlings can be up to 12 inches long and old adults up to 7 feet. This was maybe 3 feet long so probably a young adult. I played with it a bit and it scooted under a log raised off the ground. It didn’t appear on the other side, and it wasn’t under the arch of the log, so it seems to have somehow gone inside the wood or had a passage underneath.

As the link says, kingsnakes are impervious to pit viper venom and so those turn out to be good candidates for dinner. SREL reports that populations are here have been documented to be in decline, especially in the coastal plain.

The head there wasn’t much in focus, so let’s get a better look. Photos are linked to larger versions on a new page.





ADDED: There’s a really neat resource site on eastern kingsnakes. Right up my alley, it’s a collection of individuals and their variations, organized by state on the left sidebar. Quite an amazing range of variation. At the bottom are links to similar sites for corn, rat, milk, and moleking snakes.