Here are some facts about this amazing snake.
There are 25 subspecies of milksnakes, including what is commonly known as the scarlet kingsnake (L. t. elapsoides).
They are oviparous, laying an average of about 10 eggs per clutch, although this number can vary by region.
The subspecies have strikingly different appearances, and many of them have their own common names.
They are distributed from southeastern Canada to western Ecuador and northern Venezuela.
The milk snakes are 50 to 152 cm long.
The typical color pattern of milk snakes are alternating bands of red-black-yellow or white-black-red.
Red spots are seen instead of bands in some populations.
They have smooth and shiny scales.
They have no eyelids and instead have a transparent shell that rests over their eyes called goggles to protect their eyes from dust and debris. The glasses give them a “glass-eyed” blank appearance.
Milk snakes typically live about twelve years.
Typically, milk snakes live in forested regions, but in some regions they can be found in open prairies.
In various parts of their range, milk snakes often reside on rocky slopes.
Milk snake activity is primarily nocturnal. They are primarily terrestrial except that the scarlet kingsnake sometimes seeks shelter under the bark of standing dead pines.
Young milk snakes typically eat snails, insects, and earthworms.
The diet of adult milk snakes often includes lizards (especially skinks), snakes, and small mammals. They are also known to eat birds and their eggs, frogs, fish, and other snakes.
Like other members of the kingsnake family, milk snakes sometimes eat other snakes and are at least somewhat immune to their venom.
Thanks to David J R
