What kind of snake is this?

[Fish Taxi]

I had a snake in my driveway this morning, and have no idea what kind it was. I have a North American field guide, but couldn't find anything that quite looked right. Wondering if it might have been somebody's escaped pet.

[Fish Taxi]

Tried to edit my post, but it wouldn't work right... The closest thing I could find in the field guide and the net was a red milk snake, but didn't see any that had the same coloration as this one.

I moved him out of the driveway, over to the woods so he wouldn't get squished. Hopefully he eats a lot of mice over his lifetime...

[springhillwantabe]

sure looks like a milk snake never seen a red one though??

[LBM]

Field Herp Forum • View topic - Every milk snake we saw this year (duw, lots of pics!!)

[terrybassboat]

Looks like a cobra to me. I would have killed him.

[DuckHuntingUSA]

I'll go with a Red Milk Snake also. Its not a problem around here, but where there are Coral snakes the little saying I remember is Red and Black, Vemon lack. Red and Yellow, Kill a Fellow. Stay away from the ones with the Red touching the Yellow.

Kinda like, Leaves of three, let it be.

[Fish Taxi]

Thanks guys.

That is a helpful site, LBM. I will bookmark that for next time I have trouble identifying a reptile.

[Tucker]

I showed a picture of this to a buddy of mine that knows alot about reptiles and this was his response...

If he lives in manhattan like his tag suggests and that is the area he found it, it is an intergrade between a red milk snake and a central plains milk snake. Based on its appearance I would suspect he found it in the flint hills making it an intergrade.

[Fish Taxi]

I showed a picture of this to a buddy of mine that knows alot about reptiles and this was his response...

If he lives in manhattan like his tag suggests and that is the area he found it, it is an intergrade between a red milk snake and a central plains milk snake. Based on its appearance I would suspect he found it in the flint hills making it an intergrade.

Yes, I live a couple miles south of Manhattan city limits and found it in my driveway. Thanks for asking your expert and reporting back what he said.

[Craig Johnson]

Fish Taxi,

I sent your pic/question to Emporia State University. Below is the reply I got back.

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.....Andrew just told me there is red blotches on the head of the milksnake. I thought the head was solid black. So it is a hybrid milksnake between a Red and Central Plains Milksnake (mostly Red with a Central Plains influence). Most of the flint hills region is an intergrade zone between the 2 milksnakes. Many of them have the gray bands.

Cheers,

Greg

************************************************** ********************
Greg Sievert
Dept. of Biological Sciences – Box 4050
Emporia State University
1200 Commercial Street
Emporia, KS 66801-5087