Eastern Kingsnake

I found this Eastern Kingsnake in the garden, since I did not want him hanging around I caught him into a postal bin. This Eastern Kingsnake was every bit of 5 foot long and aggressive. He stood up at me several times, he acted like a king and did not want to be bothered. Kingsnakes give off a smelly musk odor when captured and they also vibrate their tails to scare you.

As you can see the Eastern Kingsnake is a black snake with a banded pattern on its back and the bands are yellow to white color.

Kingsnakes use constriction to kill their prey. They will eat other snakes, including venomous snakes like rattlesnakes as well as lizards, rodents,frogs, birds and eggs.

I took this kingsnake about a half a mile away from the house, I sure hope he doesn’t come back!

Do you have a lot of snakes in your area? What kind of snakes have you seen this summer?

Check out my blog post from last year about all of the Copperhead snakes we have in our area.

 

 

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Painted Turtles

April 21, 2014

I walked down to the pond yesterday, as I got closer to the pond I could hear frogs jumping and turtles going into the water. They always hear me before I can even get near the pond. During the first few really warm days of spring, the painted turtles start showing up again all along the pond.

 

The Painted Turtle is one of the most widespread native turtles in North America. I can remember as a child catching these when we lived in Florida. As you can see, their shell is near black and smooth with red and yellow strips along their neck, legs and tail. I have found a few painted turtles where the entire head was nearly covered in yellow.

Have a Great Week!