SONORAN MILKSNAKE PROFESSIONAL

If you are bothered by the snakes and want to keep them out of your house or barn, the best way to get rid of them is not to kill them, but rather to deter them from hanging around by eliminating their food source and cleaning up debris around the building in which they will hide. Milksnakes are constrictors, meaning they kill their prey by strangling it, and the ones in Northern New England feed mostly on rodents and small birds.

SONORAN MILKSNAKE PROFESSIONAL

Any professional or hobby farmer will tell you barns are hot spots for mice and rats (I call my barn rat “Harold” though I have no idea if it is male or female and it could be five different rats). The reason Eastern Milksnakes spend so much time around barns has nothing to do with milk, but it does have to do with food. I can’t think of a single other non-venomous species with so much myth and misinformation surrounding it, so I thought this month it would be helpful to go over factual information about this unique species and hope that by doing so, I might also help endear this species to at least a few people who aren’t all that fond of snakes to begin with. On top of that, many who correctly refer to the species as a Milksnake have been informed at some point in their lives that they got their name from their propensity to steal milk straight from the udders of livestock in the barns they frequent. Common knowledge, especially in more rural areas, is that these spotted snakes commonly found around barns and stone walls are highly venomous and that a bite from one will make you sick, when in actuality nothing could be farther from the truth. Early European settlers who had some familiarity with the venomous adders of Europe likely thought the Milksnakes here looked similar, and unfortunately this centuries old case of mistaken identity persists today, resulting in many of these harmless snakes being persecuted across the northeast. Unlike species such as Northern Watersnakes, which are often confused for similarly-patterned Copperheads or Cottonmouths, the Milksnake is mistaken not only for Timber Rattlesnakes, but also another venomous species that doesn’t actually exist: the “checkered” or “spotted adder”. Or hide its head in coils of its body, releasing a foul-smelling musk.One of the most common, yet misidentified, snakes in Northern New England is the Eastern Milksnake. When confronted, the common kingsnake may hiss, strike, and rattle its tail Sometimes the kingsnake will begin consuming the rattlesnake before it is dead. The kingsnake’s body are then thrown around the rattlesnake, constricting Tolerant of and perhaps immune to the rattlesnake’s venom, will bite the rattlesnake behind the head coils of Body bridging does not deter a hungry kingsnake. Once seen, body bridging is easily distinguished from the more frequently seen defensive coil of all rattlesnakes. It slightly elevates the front portion of its body in a line horizontal to the ground, making itself appear large, a behavior known as body bridging. When a rattlesnake encounters a kingsnake, An opportunistic feeder, it will eat many things including lizards, birds, mammals, frogs, bird eggs, and snakes (including rattlesnakes). Life HistoryĪctive in early morning and late afternoon when the weather is mild, the common kingsnake becomes nocturnal with the onset of extreme heat in summer. HabitatĪ habitat generalist, the common kingsnake has been found in deserts, riparian areas, woodlands, forests, and farmland from sea level to 7000 feet (2100 m). In Mexico this species is found through much of Baja California and mainland Mexico, south to northern Sinaloa, San Luis Potosí and northern Tamaulipas. This is a widespread species, found coast-to-coast in the United States from southern New Jersey to Southern Florida, and west through California and southern Oregon. The scales are smooth and glossy in appearance. In California, this species can have a single stripe that runs from behind the head to the tail. In some parts of the range (southern Arizona) the common kingsnake is entirely dark with no light bands, while in other areas the bands degenerate into a speckled appearance. However, there is considerable variation in pattern throughout the range. In most of the Sonoran Desert it is a dark brown or black snake with narrower bands of yellow, white, or cream going around the body, widening on the belly. Spanish names: culebra Distinguishing FeaturesĪ long, slender, harmless snake, the common kingsnake reaches lengths of approximately 3¼ feet (100 cm) in Arizona, although rare specimens reach 6 feet (180 cm). Other common names: desert kingsnake, black kingsnake, California kingsnake

Sonoran milksnake