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Warning! Do not look at this post if you do not want to look at picutes of a snake

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Pine cone for scale
After Missy’s Terrible Tuesday, we got out early this morning. I first took Missy to the pasture where she almost drowned. Just kidding. She walked way out on a sandbar and was only knee deep but then she turned left and was in put to her neck. I laughed out loud.

Rocky and I intended to fetch one of these sticks by the loblolly up by the workshop. I get nervous when snakes start wagging their tails at me so Rocky & I quickly returned home. 

One wonders where it lives when it’s not sunning itself under the loblolly.
I’m quite sure it’s a king snake of some sort, perhaps a speckled king? Oh! Let’s hope it is.

Adults feed mainly on mice and rats; snakes (both venomous and nonvenomous) will be consumed. Since kingsnakes are partially immune to the venom of native snakes, rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and coral snakes make up a portion of the diet. Watersnakes make up a substaintial part of their diet. Other Speckled Kingsnakes also are consumed. Birds and their eggs are also readily consumed. An occasional fish may be eaten.

 [typos in original]

Here is the answer to my question:

Habitat:
This subspecies of kingsnakes utilize a wider variety of habitat types than most of the related subspecies. Speckled Kingsnakes can be found in freshwater and brackish swamps, bottomland hardwood forests, prairie streams, and upland forests. However, these snakes are probably most abundant in wetter habitats. 

Speckled Kingsnakes are usually sited sunning themselve on stream-sidesor crossing roads during the warmer monthes. A common place to find them is near camps, old houses, and barns. Many are encountered while cleaning up woodpiles, stacks of firewood, or sheets of tin.

Back to work.

2 Responses

  1. Of course you know about the head shape and poisonous snakes I assume, but there some that have the non-triangular head and are still poisonous. My husband’s childhood rhyme is “Black and yellow, friendly fellow.
    Black and red, kill him dead”.
    And of course, you’ll note that your king snake is black and yellow.
    Coral snakes are all three colors, but apparently the black touches the red, not the yellow, so he falls into the “kill him dead” category.

    Or you can just avoid them all…!!

    1. I like the rhyme! Red is always dead, isn’t it? Like the safety on a gun!

      The big worry around here is cottonmouths, a.k.a. water moccasins. They are aggressive, and they are not uncommon. One of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen was a mom carrying a baby walking through a flooded street next to a river after a hurricane. Dude.

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