34. LAMPROPELTIS 



Whitney at 8,000 feet), Tulare (Hot Springs at 8,000 

 feet, Heaven's Gate near Little Kern River Lake), Fresno 

 (Kings River Canyon), Tuolumne (Hodgdon's), Mariposa 

 (Yosemite Valley), El Dorado (Riverton, FyfFe, Kyburz), 

 Plumas (Keddie), Santa Cruz (Soquel, Santa Cruz, Glen- 

 wood, Wrights), Santa Clara (IVIt. Hamilton), Napa 

 (Mount St. Helena), and Siskiyou (Callahan), counties, 

 California. 



Habits. — Very little is known of the habits of this snake. 

 It is rather slow in movement and is perfectly harmless, 

 although popularly believed to be very deadly. When 

 handled roughly it, like most other snakes, will bite, at 

 times almost fiercely, but even when the sharp little teeth 

 enter the skin deeply enough to draw blood no unpleasant 

 complications result. Its bad reputation probably results 

 from its resemblance in coloring to the venomous Coral 

 Snake or Elaps (Micrurus). The pattern of the King 

 Snakes differs from that of the Coral Snakes in having 

 the red separated from the white (or yellow) by black. 

 In the poisonous Coral Snakes the red and white (yellow) 

 bands are side by side. 



The King Snake is said to destroy many rattlers and 

 other snakes. I have never been able to verify this, 

 although I have tried with captive specimens. Boyle's Milk 

 Snake sometimes kills and eats snakes, so it is not improb- 

 able that the King Snake may have the same habit. One of 

 my specimens had eaten two Blue-bellied Lizards (Scelo- 

 porus 0. occidentalis) . 



