When I was a kid in Los Altos Hills I used to come across King snakes all the time. It is amazing how harmless they are. I also once saw a rattlesnake. Scared me half to death. The conventional wisdom at the time was that the King snakes would eat the rattlesnakes so it was good to have the King Snakes around. So whenever I would see a King Snake it made me feel good because I assumed that there would be no rattle snakes around. If we found a King snake somewhere else we would always bring it back and put it in our yard. I hadn't thought about that in thirty five years. Now looking back on it, the idea that king snakes would eat rattle snakes seems pretty preposterous.

Looks like CW was correct:

Ecological Niche King snakes eat a wide variety of small animals including other snakes, lizards, rodents, small birds, and eggs of any kind. Their primary predators are owls, hawks, alligators, and larger king snakes.

Life Cycle King snakes lay a clutch of 8 to 20 eggs in late spring or early summer in compost or other loose material. The young hatch after 6 to 8 weeks depending upon the temperature. These snakes may live to 25 years of age.

Behavior and physical adaptations King snakes kill their food by constricting it before swallowing it. They even eat venomous snakes and are immune to the venom. The color of the snake will vary from black to brown depending upon the habitat where it is found.

http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/~b.../kingsnake.htm

Go figure........
 

It is just amazing because they are as tame as cats. When I was a kid I never hesitated to pick one up, and they didn't seem to mind. I think they liked the warmth of your arm. But they never seemed to try and get away when you put them down. It just seems crazy that such a tame animal could kill rattlesnakes. Especially with those big fangs. I guess its not the size of the dog but the size of the fight in the dog.

My mom was bitten by a copperhead. Because my brother couldn't capture the snake before taking her to the hospital, the doctors couldn't be sure that it was a copperhead and could not administer the antivenin. My mom said the pain was worse than anything she had ever experienced (she has a knack for freakish accidents), like her entire body was on fire. She was in the hospital on a morphine drip for about 2 weeks.

Maybe I should get her some king snakes.

If you saw a king snake, you should have assumed that there were rattlesnakes around. Otherwise, what would the king snakes eat?

More importantly, though, I want to say that I like you. This board has been more interesting since you've been around. You bring a helpful touch of randomness (even though it obviously pisses RP off -- we can chalk that up to her being hormonal).

I believe it is Spanky that can't handle the randomness, jackarse.

If I ever saw a scarlet king snake I would freak the fuck out. Snakes are my one real phobia (I licked that fear of heights, I think.) A couple of years ago I was in a store in L.A. that sold snakes and lizards, and I could barely handle walking by the snake tanks. The only snakes that didn't frigthen me were the little babies. They're so strangely cute, it's almost mesmerizing.

Since I mentioned L.A. Spanky is sure to find the non-regional nature of my post frightening. Sidd, why don't you hold him till the fear subsides?

Among other things, other king snakes, according to the links.

This is fine as far as it goes, but if you keep up the strategy of calling on K-2o all the way through the River, I suspect you'll have a friend regardless.

Man, are you easy to bait. Do you have an alarm that goes off when your moniker is referenced?


You and I are soulmates. I have a severe snake phobia, and used to have a fear of heights that I've more or less conquered. Clearly, we should have fucked like minks last time I was in your neck of the woods. Sigh, another missed opportunity.


First you get snippy with me, now you target Spanky. From the evidence, I'm guessing you're in the fifth month. I've seen this before, twice from close-up. It ain't pretty.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Interesting. What sorts of dreams have you been having? And more about this licking, please.

Like I said -- RP missed the opportunity.

Am I the only person thinking of Riki-Tiki-Tavi now?

http://sofa.lk.net/cartoon_list/Riki...on)_sample.jpg

eta: WTF? Why are my tags not working on this board?

And clearly, whatever that degree of opportunity was, it's pissed it away now. If we start seeing posts in, say, August about a preggo's looks and behaviour in the last month, we'll be able to tell just how comfortable 3,000 miles makes one feel.