King Snake

California King Snake

California King Snake classification

The Common King Snake (Lampropeltis getula) is a widespread North American snake species and there exists several subspecies of King Snake. In addition to the subspecies named California King Snake (Lampropeltis getula californiae), there is for instance the Yuma King Snake (Lampropeltis getula yumensis), the Arizona Desert King Snake (Lampropeltis getula splendida) and the Black King Snake of Mexico (Lampropeltis getula nigrita). The Common King snake and its subspecies belong to the Kingsnake and Milksnake genus Lampropeltis in the family Colubridae.

California King Snake description

An adult California King Snake will usually stay below 48 inches in length, and a majority of the specimens are around 2.5-3-5 feet. This can be compared to the Common King Snake where adults typically reach a length of 30-85 inches.

The body of the California King Snake is almost as wide as its head. The scales are unkeeled, smooth and shiny and the colour patterns vary greatly depending on geographical location.

The most common variant of California King Snake have alternating bands of white and black or brown. The white colour sometimes has a hint of yellow. These bands are found on the top of the snake as well as on the underside, and the bands are usually narrower on the top than on the underside.

In the desert environments, the California King Snakes are often decorated with dark black bands and thin bright white bands. Some snakes have a lot of dark speckles in the light bands, while others instead have plenty of light speckling in the dark bands. In the coastal regions of southern California you can find California King Snakes that have a white or pale yellow stripe on their back. In Los Angeles County, the California King Snakes that lives along the coast often sports a dark underside and dark bands on top. In this part of the state, some of the snakes have a significantly higher number of bands than normal. The northern parts of the San Joaquin Valley and the southern parts of the Sacramento Valley are inhabited by unbanded snakes with dark bellies and lateral stripes.

California King Snake range

The California King Snake is not only found throughout California; it inhabits several other warm U.S. states and its habitat extends into Mexico. California King Snakes have been found as far north as the south-western parts of Oregon and as far east as southern Nevada. Its range comprises southern Utah, south-west Colorado and the north-western parts of New Mexico and proceeds south through much of Arizona into Sonora in Mexico. The California King Snake is also found throughout the peninsula of Baja California.

California King Snake habitat

The California King Snake can live in many different types if habitats, from wet marshes to dry deserts. It lives in forests and woodlands as well as grassland and chaparral. Humans frequently encounter California King Snakes on ranches and farmland and in suburban areas with sufficient amounts of shrubs and bushes. California King Snakes are known to avoid the damp redwood forests along the north-western coast of California. They will also stay away from really high altitudes, such as the Cascades, the Trinity Alps and the high elevations in the Sierras.

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