Do King Snakes Stink ?
The king snakes are characteristic of their prominent eyes, shiny and attractive scaly skin and stripes of a variety of colors depending upon the sub species. These snakes are not venomous and kill their prey by constriction. They feed on frogs, rodents, turtles, lizards, eggs, birds and other venomous snakes as they have a natural immunity towards the venom of different snake species like the copperhead and rattle snakes. |
In general, king snakes are quiet and not very aggressive. However, if they feel threatened, they let out a loud hiss or start vibrating their tail. Then, they roll up like a ball keeping their head at the centre for protecting themselves and smear feces and strong smelling musk of bad odor from their post anal glands on their enemy or predator. The common enemies of the king snakes are hawks and some mammals.
King snakes generally grow between 2 ft and 4 ft in length. However, species of about 5 ft – 7 ft length has been recorded. Typically they are black, red, white and yellow in color with a variety of spots, bands or stripes.
Some of the common king snakes varieties are milk snakes, Common King Snake (also called chain snake), California King Snake, Western Black King snake, Desert King snake and scarlet king snake.
They are found in abundance after heavy rains as well as during summer or spring seasons. Depending on the species, they are found in a variety of landscapes like rocky areas, grasslands, woodlands and coniferous forests.
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King snakes are not venomous and can feed on other venomous snakes like copperhead and rattle snake due to their natural immunity towards their venoms. They prey on eggs, birds, turtles, frogs, lizards and small mammals.