Snake ID help (1 Viewer)

[Mauser]

Yesterday the cat killed a small snake. I am pretty sure it is a Sonoran Mountain kingsnake, but it could be a milksnake. I have only seen one other snake like this, when I was around 12 years old I caught one on the same property I live on now.

 

[Mesa Woman]

I agree with you…

I grew up with Texas Coral snakes…

Red and black friend of Jack
Red and yellow kill a fellow

That’s cool but bummer kitty got it. My kitties are getting my lizards!!

 

[Dumpolina]

Everyone at the feed store says milk snake/ king scarlet

 

[Mesa Woman]

I like this website:

NMHS - Snakes of New Mexico

www.nmherpsociety.org

According to location, feed store guys are correct, milkshake:

NMHS - Lampropeltis triangulum celaenops

www.nmherpsociety.org

 

[krazykat69]

I like Milkshake, even better than Milksnake.
Red on Black, venom lack
Red on Yellow, kill a fellow
Mesa Woman is right!!!!

 

[alia176]

I saw one of these beautiful snake that gone ran over on the side of the road while I was cycling. The colors are striking.

 

[Mauser]

It seems it is a milksnake. Which is a type if kingsnake. It is kinda weird though. It has a white head with a black cap like the king and narrow bands also like the king, but less than 45 bands and in a place known to be inhabited by milksnakes and not the king. Kinda looks like both snakes and not one or the other.

 

[marcfj60]

It seems it is a milksnake. Which is a type if kingsnake. It is kinda weird though. It has a white head with a black cap like the king and narrow bands also like the king, but less than 45 bands and in a place known to be inhabited by milksnakes and not the king. Kinda looks like both snakes and not one or the other.

The wife and kid saw one on the back porch last year. I've never seen one in person.

 

[LX450JC]

Looks like a new Mexico milkshake to me. Same bands and markings. All of the milkshakes are similar but just a little different.

 

[peneumbra2]

Up here in northern NM we have the Questa spitting cobra, which is of course something you want to avoid at all cos--
Well, wait a minute...

 

[OGBeno]

@Godwin

 

[Godwin]

I'm going with milksnake based on distribution from maps in Degenhardt et al. Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico and Stebbins A Field Guide to the Western Reptiles and Amphibians. There is a lot of color variation and band width in these snakes. They'll have the basic color pattern of red-yellow-black but the red and yellow intensity will vary. Red may be dull to vibrant and yellow ranging from a good yellow to almost white. Field guides and online sources almost always use the most attractive individuals to illustrate a species. With the ease of loading photos these days the online sites should present a range of variation of the species they're presenting.

I'm glad I'm in agreement with the folks at the feed store.

There is an entire thread in Chat devoted to this type stuff https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/godwin-what-is-it.1064816/ but venture into Chat at your own peril.

 

[marcfj60]

I'm going with milksnake based on distribution from maps in Degenhardt et al. Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico and Stebbins A Field Guide to the Western Reptiles and Amphibians. There is a lot of color variation and band width in these snakes. They'll have the basic color pattern of red-yellow-black but the red and yellow intensity will vary. Red may be dull to vibrant and yellow ranging from a good yellow to almost white. Field guides and online sources almost always use the most attractive individuals to illustrate a species. With the ease of loading photos these days the online sites should present a range of variation of the species they're presenting.

I'm glad I'm in agreement with the folks at the feed store.

There is an entire thread in Chat devoted to this type stuff https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/godwin-what-is-it.1064816/ but venture into Chat at your own peril.

Thanks. Now I'm going to waste the next 4 hours wading through 157 pages just on that post. Our local community FB page (East Mountain 411) which covers the area that's east of Albuquerque gets LOTS of posts of "what snake is this". It's usually a sonoran gopher snake (which most refer to a as a bull snake), occasionally it's a prairie rattlesnake, a coachwhip or a western terrestrial garter. And very rarely it's a western hognose or a milksnake.

 

[Godwin]

@Godwin

Curse you beno for dragging me into this forum . After reading a few other threads I'm wanting to load up the 60 and head to NM to do some prowling around but I'm stuck in AL.

I've spent a little time in NM as we had relatives in Carlsbad and would occasionally visit them, my introduction to the Chihuahauan Desert. Later we had friends that lived in Madrid and Los Cerillos, plus other trips in southern NM to the Sacramento Mountains.

 

[OGBeno]

Curse you beno for dragging me into this forum . After reading a few other threads I'm wanting to load up the 60 and head to NM to do some prowling around but I'm stuck in AL.

I've spent a little time in NM as we had relatives in Carlsbad and would occasionally visit them, my introduction to the Chihuahauan Desert. Later we had friends that lived in Madrid and Los Cerillos, plus other trips in southern NM to the Sacramento Mountains.

If you come west, I'll join you, Jim.

 

[pappy]

Curse you beno for dragging me into this forum . After reading a few other threads I'm wanting to load up the 60 and head to NM to do some prowling around but I'm stuck in AL.

It would be an honor to have you in NM. And finally mett you.

 

[peneumbra2]

Curse you beno for dragging me into this forum . After reading a few other threads I'm wanting to load up the 60 and head to NM to do some prowling around but I'm stuck in AL.

I've spent a little time in NM as we had relatives in Carlsbad and would occasionally visit them, my introduction to the Chihuahauan Desert. Later we had friends that lived in Madrid and Los Cerillos, plus other trips in southern NM to the Sacramento Mountains.

Don't they have a lot of snakes in AL? Cottonmouths, Water Moccasins, the occasional 15-foot-long Python on vacation from Florida...

 

[Godwin]

Don't they have a lot of snakes in AL? Cottonmouths, Water Moccasins, the occasional 15-foot-long Python on vacation from Florida...

Oh yeah, we have plenty of snakes, about 43 native species. No oversized non-native pythons yet, just give it time. Representatives of all the venomous snakes, timber rattlesnake, eastern diamondback, pygmy rattler, cottonmouth, copperhead, and coral snake. Remaining species are non-venomous. Similar in appearance to the snake of this thread, we have the scarlet kingsnake, red milksnake, and eastern milksnake, along with the scarlet snake with is also red-black-yellow banded but not a type of kingsnake.

 

[peneumbra2]

Yeah. That is a lot of snakes. I wouldn't worry so much about coral snakes - they have strong venom but tiny mouths - but some of those others...
Of course, if you want REALLY dangerous snakes, you could live in Australia. When we were there, we visited a reptile exhibit at a zoo, and they were scary. All they had to do was give you one hard look, and you would keel right over.