King of the Snakes

Although non-venomous, kingsnakes truly are kings as they go toe-to-toe with many venomous snakes (rattlers, coral snakes, etc.) and are immune to other snakes venom due to certain enzymes circulating in their bloodstream. In fact, kingsnakes were given the name “king” because they regularly eat other snakes! Although they also enjoy lizards, frogs, turtles, birds, and rodents cuz who doesn’t?? In the third picture you can see this specimen had recently shed its skin which was still flaking off on the tail.

Full grown adults can be anywhere from just under 3ft all the way up to 7ft on rare occasion. In the third picture you can see this specimen had recently shed its skin which was still flaking off on the tail. They have a variety of defenses against predators including rattling the tip of their tail among the leaves to imitate a rattlesnake and excreting a strong, foul smelling musk when attacked. This snake is widespread throughout the Western US and Northwestern Mexico. Its color pattern ranges from the deep brown with yellow bands seen in this specimen or black with white bands or even solid black with a segmented white band running along its back lengthwise.