Eastern Milksnake

The milk snake or milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum), is a species of kingsnake; there were once up to 24 subspecies recognized, however fewer are officially recognized today. Lampropeltis elapsoides, the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as a 25th subspecies (L. t. elapsoides), but is now recognized as a distinct species. The previously delineated subspecies have strikingly different appearances, and many of them have their own common names. Morphological and genetic data suggest that this species could be split into several separate species, and it has been by several authorities. Lampropeltis gentilis, Lampropeltis annulata, Lampropeltis abnorma, Lampropeltis polyzona, and Lampropeltis micropholis have been elevated to the species level. Milksnakes are not venomous.

Geographic range

Milk snakes can be found from the southeastern extreme of Ontario, Canada, into southeastern Maine and all the states of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States of America, south to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi; in the midwest, from central Minnesota to Colorado, Nebraska, and the Dakotas; they are found in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains; and in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. There are further subspecies found in nearly all of Mexico, from the state of Sonora east to the Gulf coast of Tamaulipas and throughout the rest of south and central Mexico; all through Central America and into Colombia and Ecuador.

Habitat

Across the wide range of this species, habitat varies; typically, milk snakes prefer to live in forested regions or areas of open woodland. However, they can also be found in swamps, prairie, farmland, rocky slopes, some semi-arid/chaparral areas, and sand dunes/beaches. In some situations, milk snakes also migrate seasonally; during the winter, they may move to higher/drier habitats for hibernation, and then moister habitats in time for the summer. However, snake migration is often limited due to human-caused habitat destruction and fragmentation. Depending on subspecies, milk snakes enter hibernation from late October or November to mid-April.

Description

There is a significant amount of variation among milk snakes in terms of size. Depending on subspecies, they can be as small as 14 in (36 cm) or as large as 72 in (180 cm) long. Adults in the wild apparently average from 38 to 225 g (1.3 to 7.9 oz) in North America. However, unusually large milk snakes can become rather bulkier than average-sized adults and potentially weigh up to 750 to 1,400 g (1.65 to 3.09 lb), though high weights as such are generally reported from captivity. Males typically are larger than females in maturity, although females can be bulkier than males similar in length as well. Generally more tropical populations, from Mexico and further south, reach larger adult sizes than milk snakes living in the temperate zones.