Catch / Keep / Release?

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Yeah, there's lots of ways for them to bite the dust at the hands of man!

My only sighting of a California Mountain Kingsnake (a species I have been looking for in the wild for years) was a roadkill in Siskiyou County (CA).

[jitami]

Steven, mountain's the one with Red, right? Awww, geez, now I have to go look something up... but if it's the subspecies I think it is I may have a road trip for you! Then again, that whole area is on fire along with the rest of the state, so who knows?

[jitami]

Ok, California Herps is saying that they don't recognize any subspecies of Lampropeltis zonata. Do you? Going on the assumption that the California Mountain Kingsnake is the only species in Northern California with red. There used to be a very healthy population in the Las Padres National Forest along the Arroyo Seco River. I've seen dozens there as a kid. Now, I really have no idea if that's truly the only kingsnake in Ca with red coloring, so this may info may be totally useless! Sorry if so! I was so surprised when we moved to the Sacramento area and all the kings were grey/white or black/white with an odd amount of creamy yellow every once in awhile. I had only seen the classic rings of the red/white/black version before and was a bit disappointed in the local kings

Now can we all say together, "Red touches Yellow-kills a fellow, Red touches Black-friend of Jack" Learned at a very young age while seeing an abundance of beautiful kings

[Spiritwolf]

I have read that the life of a garter in the wild is on the average only between one and three years. And think of all the people that kill a snake on sight simply because it happens to be a snake.

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Hey Tami,

In the wonderful world of CA Mtn Kings there are a total of 7 subspecies with 5 in CA. CaliforniaHerps mentions these specifically under the alternate names links: L. z. zonata (St Helena), L. z. multicincta (Sierra), L. z. multifasciata (Coast), L. z. pulchra (San Diego), and L. z. parvirubra (San Bernardino). Range maps and some great photos (check out the Sierra eating a rattler!) are given.

Please don't be too disappointed with the kings without reds. These are California Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getulus californicas), subspecies of the Common Kingsnake. These are more prevalent throughout the state than the CA Mtn King and come in varying bands, stripes, or aberrant patterns of black and white, brown and yellow, or somewhere inbetween. Black and white (anerythristic) variants of the CA Mtn King do exist, but they are very rare!

Lucky for us, coral snakes ("red and yellow kill a fellow") do not live in California.

Steve

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Red touches Black-friend of Jack"

I always heard "red and black, venom lack"

[Loren]

Well, you made me run out and snap a new pic of mine.
It was given to me over 5 years ago through word of mouth- someone looking for an experienced home for one. No idea of its history before that, as I didnt actually know the people. I did the band counts and all that years ago, and I believe I decided it was likely the sierra subspecies.

It (she?) is an absolutely wonderful snake.

[jitami]

Hey Tami,

In the wonderful world of CA Mtn Kings there are a total of 7 subspecies with 5 in CA. CaliforniaHerps mentions these specifically under the alternate names links: L. z. zonata (St Helena), L. z. multicincta (Sierra), L. z. multifasciata (Coast), L. z. pulchra (San Diego), and L. z. parvirubra (San Bernardino). Range maps and some great photos (check out the Sierra eating a rattler!) are given.

Please don't be too disappointed with the kings without reds. These are California Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getulus californicas), subspecies of the Common Kingsnake. These are more prevalent throughout the state than the CA Mtn King and come in varying bands, stripes, or aberrant patterns of black and white, brown and yellow, or somewhere in between. Black and white (anerythristic) variants of the CA Mtn King do exist, but they are very rare!

Lucky for us, coral snakes ("red and yellow kill a fellow") do not live in California.

Steve

Sorry, I was wrong, it's the SSAR that doesn't recognize the subspecies. Quoted from Californiaherps "Currently, the SSAR does not recognize this or any subspecies of Lampropeltis zonata - California Mountain Kingsnake."

I did see the picture of the Sierra eating the rattler. Awesome picture!

I did know that we don't have coral snakes here, but that little rhyme was pounded into my head somewhere along the way Yours is equally effective and probably easier to remember. I'm a preschool teacher, so I find all the little quips we use to teach life lessons interesting

Quick googling of Arroyo Seco produced unsatisfactory results, but the area we spent a lot of time in when I was younger is in the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest. Our family owned a cabin on the way into the Arroyo Seco campground. Kind of rough and tumble crowd occasionally, but quiet and beautiful during the week and/or further up the gorge(Ventana Wilderness area). King City was the nearest city, to the east, along hi way 101. I'm sure there's been a fair amount of development since then, but the actual river/gorge area is hopefully intact and thriving? I would say, with just mild hiking, still near developed campgrounds, buildings, etc. we would see several a week.

By looking at the Californiaherps range maps they were likely L. z. multifasciata or the Coast Mountain Kingsnake. Arroyo Seco is in, possibly on the eastern edge, of that little bubble just under the SF Bay on their range map with possible intergrades inland, so we could have seen a bit of both.

Anyway, thanks for the trip down memory lane & hope you soon get to see your first Cal Mountain King live & in person soon! Oh, and I'm not terribly disappointed in the local kings, but was very surprised when I'd been raised *knowing* a kingsnake was red, black, and white

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Years back I was surprised to see them come with red!!!

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Update! Besides the one young Skilton Skink I fed my Night Snake a while back (Skink pickins have been bad), I have now had success with (Oh No!) baby corn snakes. Please understand, I would normally have an issue with feeding snakes to snakes, but these corns were all born with numerous vertebral kinks. Soooo.... It seems my Hypsiglena (whom I will name "Hypsi") doesn't have to go hungry for weeks on end. On the other hand I can't say much for the outcome of one of this year's corn clutches.... Guess it was meant to be...

Steve

Steven- what have you tried to feed the night snake?
I have had success with small fence lizards and small pacific treefrogs. I actually feed them as frozen/thawed.
I leave them in the cage overnight along the perimeter, and they almost always are gone in the morning.
Night snakes can swallow fairly large meals too, so its ok if the meals are on the big side. They make it fit.