California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae)
What’s black and white and wicked cool all over? All hail the California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae)!
Who better to meet for our second week of Spooky Season than the King of Snakes?
Kingsnakes come by their royal title honestly because their diet consists of…mainly other snakes. What makes them true royalty is those “other snakes” also include rattlesnakes.
Kingsnakes are immune to rattler venom, and a delicate looking California King will make fairly quick work of the only true “Danger Noodle” in our area.
California kings average two to three feet in length and are quite slender; our Western rattlers average two to four feet and are chonks, but somehow kingsnakes manage them as a meal.
This is why we included a photo this week that is arguably more graphic than our normal pics because King vs. Rattler kind of has to be seen to be believed. Now if you like the photo you can find many, many more online. It’s one of those “I’m seeing this and I have to photograph it” moments.
Kingsnakes also eat rodents, lizards, frogs and large insects which is handy because they live in parts of our area which have few other snake species.
When it comes to kingsnakes, our little corner of Oregon is king. We have two species of kingsnakes living in our backyards: our featured California king and their more colorful cousin the California mountain kingsnakes.
Neither are common Oregon residents. For example, there are 69 recorded sightings of California kings in Oregon on iNaturalist and 57 sightings of mountain kings and both can only be found in our little corner of the state. There are 2,774 sightings of gopher snakes who can be found throughout Oregon.
Both species of kingsnake have been found in Shady Cove, Trail and Eagle Point areas.
While I’ve yet to find one in the wild (thus the photos of my old pet kingsnakes), I’ve come within minutes of finding one on the trails around Elk Creek (according to the other hikers who had “just seen one”). If you’d like to see one in real life, that’s as good a spot as any as I’ve heard a few folks say they’ve seen them there. If nothing else, it’s a lovely area for a stroll.
Here in our area California kings will be black and white, sometimes with very narrow white bands and rarely black with a white stripe down their back. In more arid/desert climates they will be dark chocolate brown and white in those variable patterns. Rarest of the rare, albino California kings do sometimes happen in the wild (and are fairly common in the captive bred pet trade).
California kingsnakes can be found from Mexico up through California to our area. They can also be found on the western edges of Arizona and Nevada.
They can also often be found in pet stores as they are one of the most popular snakes in the pet trade. That said they are escape artists and need the terrarium version of Alcatraz to be safely (their safety) kept as pets. So definitely do a lot of research before considering one as a pet.
Fun fact: California kingsnakes can live up to 20 years in captivity. They can live that long in the wild, but typically 10 years is a long life for a wild snake. While kingsnakes have no fear of other snakes, they are definitely on the menu for various raptors such as red-tailed hawks.
While non-venomous, kingsnakes do have defenses. When startled or afraid, they will curl up and shake their tales hoping to somehow be mistaken for rattlers (true optimists). The next step is to expose their throat and underside and expel a “lovely” mix of poop and musk, and they very well may bite if handled.
If you’ve never experienced their poopy musk combo, count yourself lucky and if you do see a California kingsnake in the wild keep a respectful distance as the odor from that one-two-punch defense is one that sticks with you.
