A milk snake.
The milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum, is a species of snake found in a wide variety of habitats and geographic regions. In the United States, milk snakes generally range in length from 24 to 36 inches (about 60.96 to 91.44 cm), although they can reach lengths of up to 52 inches (about 132 cm); Milk snakes found in other parts of the world generally range in length from 12 to 69 inches (about 30.48 to 175.26 cm), with the longest snakes typically found in neotropical regions. A colorful pattern is characteristic of the milk snake. Its body is usually light gray or tan with large rust-colored, brown, yellow, orange, red, or white spots bordered by black or colored edges on the underside. Smaller patches of the same color mark its sides and its underside is covered in an irregular black and white checkered pattern.
The milk snake gets its name from an old folk tale. As the story goes, this particular snake drank the milk of cows and nursing mothers until they dried up. Although the story is not true, the name stuck.
Raccoons hunt milk snakes.
Milk snake habitats vary and generally include deciduous and coniferous forest edges, tropical hardwood forests, streams, swamps, woodlands, grasslands, savannas, rocky slopes, agricultural areas, and suburban areas. Milk snakes can occupy areas as low as sea level and up to 8,000 feet (about 2.4 km). They can be found in most areas east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States; in south-central Ontario, southeastern Ontario, and southwestern Quebec in Canada; and in non-arid areas of Mexico and Central America.
Milk snakes will occasionally eat earthworms.
The milk snake is covered in smooth scales, giving it a typically shiny or lustrous appearance. Its exact colors depend on which of the 25 known subspecies it is, and males and females are not sexually dimorphic in color. The milk snake’s appearance can sometimes be similar to that of the venomous copperhead or coral snake, but the milk snake has a distinctive light-colored Y- or V-shaped spot on its head. This adaptation can sometimes protect the snake from predators.
Milk snakes can eat mice.
Males and females probably mate in the spring before emerging from hibernation quarters. Female typically lays 2-24 eggs in spring or early summer, usually under rocks, in rotting logs, in small mammal burrows, under piles of debris, or in rotting vegetation. Once the eggs are laid, the parents no longer play any role in raising their young, as the eggs must naturally incubate in the warm, moist areas that the females choose for them. Generally, the eggs must be incubated for a period of 28 to 39 days before they hatch.
Milk snakes can eat frogs.
Newly hatched milk snakes seem to feed primarily on other young snakes. Milk snakes are usually brightly colored when young and their color tends to darken with age. At three to four years of age, most milk snakes reach maturity. His total life expectancy is uncertain.
The main food source for the adult milk snake is small rodents, such as mice, rats, and voles. In this way, milk snakes can benefit humans because they tend to kill rodents lurking around barns and garbage areas. They occasionally eat birds, bird eggs, frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, slugs, lizards, other snakes, and also snake eggs. Milk snakes kill their prey by constriction and swallow it whole.
Although milk snakes are not considered aggressive animals, they do tend to bite when handled.
As a primarily nocturnal animal, humans rarely see milk snakes during the day. Although they do not flee from human-occupied areas, milk snakes often remain hidden, occupying areas under rocks, logs, trash, or other cover. Milk snakes are solitary animals and are rarely seen in groups except during hibernation.
Animals such as coyotes, skunks, foxes, and raccoons hunt milk snakes. As a protection mechanism, milk snakes vibrate with their tails, making them closely resemble rattlesnakes. For this reason, humans sometimes mistake harmless milk snakes for venomous rattlesnakes and kill them. Milk snakes are generally not very aggressive animals, but they do tend to bite when handled or threatened.