Lampropeltis getula
—
Eastern Kingsnake
This large and handsome snake was coiled in the underbrush along the side of a boardwalk trail a few dozen yards from Bodie Island Lighthouse. After I got some initial poor in situ photos, I tried to coax it out into the open. It was thoroughly uninterested in that plan, and quickly slithered under the boardwalk and out of sight. This lame photo is the best one I came away with.
Thanks to Brian Hubbs for pointing out that I had misclassified this individual as a member of the extremely-questionable-at-best subspecies sticticeps. It seems that even the people who still recognize that variety don't think that it lives as far north as Bodie Island.
Printed references:
- Behler, J. L., King, F. W. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians
- Conant, R., Collins, J. T. 1998. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition, expanded
- Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, Eighth Edition
- Hubbs, B. 2009. Common Kingsnakes: A Natural History of Lampropeltis getula
- Smith, H. M., Brodie, E. D. Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification