Milk snake

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Milk snake

Milk snake (French: Couleuvre tachetée; Spanish: Culebra-real coralillo),(Lampropeltis triangulum), is a species of king snake. There are 24 subspecies of milk snakes. Lampropeltis elapsoides, the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as the subspecies L. t. elapsoides, but is now recognized as a distinct species. Milk snakes grow 20 to 60 inches (51 to 150 cm) long. They have smooth and shiny scales and their typical color pattern is alternating bands of red-black-yellow or white-black-red. Young milk snakes typically eat slugs, insects, crickets, and earthworms. Adult diet frequently includes lizards (especially skinks), and small mammals. They are also known to eat birds and their eggs, frogs, fish, and other snakes.