Scarlet Kingsnake

“People often mistake scarlet kingsnakes for coral snakes.”

This beautiful snake with its jewel-like colors is found east of the Mississippi River, in states from Virginia down to Florida. Completely harmless to humans, it is a fearsome predator on small lizards and rodents. It will even eat other snakes, including venomous ones.

4 Incredible Scarlet Kingsnake Facts!

• Its colors mimic those of the coral snake, which is venomous. This convinces some would-be predators to leave the kingsnake alone.
• The snake lives largely underground or underneath bark or wet leaves.
• It is a good climber.

Where To Find the Scarlet Kingsnake 

This snake is found in the eastern and southeastern United States in habitats such as pine woods, prairies, mixed pine and oak forests, farms, and wetland hammocks.

Scientific Name

The snake’s scientific name is Lampropeltis elapsoides. The genus name comes from the Greek words lamprós, which means “shiny” and peltas, which means “shield.” This describes the brightness of the snake’s scales. Triangulum comes from the triangular patch found on the head of the milk snake. Elapsoides is a Latin word based on the Greek word éllops, which means “coral.”

The Different Types of Scarlet Kingsnake

The scarlet kingsnake is a member of a genus that includes other kingsnakes, milk snakes, and their subspecies. All of these snakes are nonvenomous and have other snakes as part of their diet. Among them are:

• Lampropeltis getula
• Lampropeltis alterna
• Lampropeltis greeri
• Lampropeltis mexicana
• Lampropeltis rhombomaculata
• Lampropeltis zonata
• Lampropeltis splendida
• Lampropeltis ruthveni
• Lampropeltis leonis
• Lampropeltis knoblochi

Population and Conservation Status 

Scarlet kingsnakes are considered to be abundant in the habitats where they live. Their conservation status is least concern.

Appearance and Description 

The identification of the scarlet kingsnake is mostly done to differentiate it from the poisonous coral snake. As the rhyme goes, “Red on black, friend of Jack, red on yellow, kill a fellow.” However, herpetologists discourage using the rhyme because it’s not 100% reliable. The rhyme can only confirm a normally-patterned North American coral snake — it can’t tell you that something isn’t a coral snake.

The scarlet kingsnake’s color pattern is a white band bordered in black on the scarlet ground. As the snake ages, the white darkens to butter yellow or even pale orange. An even simpler method of identification is to look at the snake’s head. If the snout is red, and the location is in the eastern part of the United States, then it’s a scarlet kingsnake.

Small in size for a snake, L. elapsoides only grow between 1.5 to 2.5 feet with a weight of about 2.77 pounds. This makes it easy for it to hide in logs, stumps, or under decaying bark. This also happens to be the location of their favorite prey, which are small lizards.

Scarlet Kingsnake vs Coral Snake

The kingsnake’s Batesian mimicry of the coral snake helps keep it safe from predators, but a closer look at both snakes reveals subtle differences that may not register with a hungry raccoon or fox. The most important difference between king snakes and coral snakes is that coral snakes are venomous while kingsnakes are not

Coral snake refers to many species of snake that belong to five genera. The ones that concern this article belong to the Micrurus genus, as they are only found in the Americas. A coral snake that is frequently mistaken for L. elapsoides is the eastern, or common coral snake. Like the kingsnake, it is not large and rarely grows over four feet in length with a weight that ranges between two and five pounds. The snakes share much of the same habitat and geographic range.

However, the coral snake has a much shorter lifespan, at least in captivity, and usually doesn’t live longer than seven years. It tends to have a slimmer body and a black snout. Instead of white or yellow bands edged with black on a red ground, the coral snake can be said to have red bands edged with yellow on a black ground.

Pictures

Venom: How Dangerous Are They?

Scarlet kingsnakes are not at all venomous and are not dangerous to humans. The danger is that the venomous coral snake might be mistaken for a scarlet kingsnake.

Behavior and Humans

Unless one is taking a dip in the swimming pool, humans rarely see L. elapsoides. While not particularly frightened of humans, these snakes are nocturnal and fossorial, which means they often hide in underground burrows or are found under bark, logs, damp leaf litter, or tree stumps. They are solitary but might group up in the winter to hibernate and then to bask in the sun when hibernation is over. Scarlet kingsnakes also seem to be more tolerant of high temperatures than other snakes, as they’re seen to be active when other snakes are staying out of the heat.

As predators, they enjoy a diet of rodents, birds, eggs, and snakes. They will eat coral snakes even as they benefit from the mimicry of this venomous reptile. But scarlet kingsnakes seem to be partial to lizards, especially skinks and anoles. Some pet snakes will eat nothing but live skinks, even if it means starving to death.

A scarlet kingsnake that feels threatened will vibrate its tail like a rattler and may evacuate its bowels. Its bite is harmless and not even very painful.

Scarlet kingsnakes breed once a year in spring and early summer. After mating, the female lays an average of 10 eggs in duff or rotting logs. They are oval and may stick together, and the mother does not incubate or guard them. The eggs hatch after 28 to 39 days. The snake reaches maturity when it’s between three and four years old and can have a lifespan as high as 22 years.

Scarlet kingsnakes are beneficial because they eat mice and other agricultural pests. They also keep the ecosystem in balance by preying on other animals. Many people find them beautiful as well.

Similar Animals

• Milksnake
• Harlequin coral snake
• Speckled kingsnake

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2. Savannah River Ecology Library: UGA, Available here: https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/lamtri.htm
3. IUCN, Available here: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/67662850/67662876
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