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California Kingsnake
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- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Serpentes (snakes)
- Family: Colubridae ("typical" snakes)
- Subfamily: Colubrinae ("typical"
snakes)
- Genus: Lampropeltis (kings and
milksnakes)
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Scientific Name: Lampropeltis
getula californiae (Blainville, 1835) |
| Habitat: Fields and
other open areas with sufficient cover. |
Lampro="shiny," pelta="shield"
(scales) getula=erroneously referring to an area in North
Africa, californiae="from California"
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| Length: can grow to 5
feet or more. |
Old Scientific Name(s):
Lampropeltis getulus californiae; specific name changed to
match "gender" of generic name |
| Food: Rodents,
lizards, and other snakes, including rattlesnakes. |
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I flipped a large board to find this baby king
near Carlsbad in January 2004. I'm told the area I was
herping was known to produce a great number of snakes, but not
many people look for them in the middle of winter. I was
fortunate to find 2 specimens. |
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| Here's a closeup of the baby
king's head. I was able to capture the baby, but the second
king I found was much more wary and escaped down a crevice under
its board before I could capture it. I returned the next day
and grabbed it before it could escape. After taking a few
photographs, it was returned to its lair. |
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This is a picture of the subadult. It was
maybe about 2.5 feet long. Notice the coloration varies
slightly from the juvenile--more of a brown-and-yellow instead of
black-and-pale-yellow. The Cal kings in this area show a
range of variation, including naturally-occurring striped morphs. |
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