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| Milk Snakes are so named because it was once believed that these snakes would enter barns and steal milk from cows. This is not true as they only drink water. They would become sick if they were to drink cows milk. They were in the barns actually helping the farmers by looking for rodents to eat. The Milk Snake has a light gray to tan body covered with reddish-brown blotches bordered in black, and averages 60 to 90 cm in length. It has larger blotches on its back that alternate with smaller ones on each side. The head is patterned, usually with a light colored "Y" or "V" within a reddish-brown patch. The belly is patterned with an irregular checkerboard of black on white. The snout is usually white. The scales are smooth and the anal plate is single. Tail rattling may also lead some to mistake it for a rattlesnake, although the two species look quite different. Mating generally occurs in spring, with females depositing on average about 10 eggs in June and July. Eggs are deposited under rocks, boards or other debris, in rotting vegetation, stump or log, or small mammal burrow, (selected for its high humidity and warmth) and usually hatch in August and September. Woodlands, fields, rocky hillsides and borders of wetlands provide natural habitat for Milk Snakes. They are uncommon in the Algonquin Highlands area. Milk Snakes are constrictors and kill their food by suffocation. Small mammals are the preferred prey, as they are able to enter burrows and consume young in their nests. Milk Snakes routinely eat other snakes, and may also take birds and bird eggs, frogs, fish, earthworms, slugs and insects. Primarily nocturnal, Milk Snakes can be found during the day under rocks, logs, or other cover. Although they are not very aggressive, Milk Snakes will bite and spray musk if handled. |
(Family Colubridae)
Lampropeltis triangulum
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