That's a baby Cornsnake (Pantherophis guttatus).
It is completely harmless.

Just to set the record straight ... That's a king snake. Of the Lampropeltis genus. It to is harmless. The markings say king snake not corn.

I'm no snake expert, but that sure looks like a milk snake to me.

Same thing, Kendra. Lampropeltis triangulum, commonly known as a milk snake or milksnake, French: Couleuvre tachet�e; is a species of king snake. There are 24 subspecies of milk snakes. They are not dangerous to humans.
A king snake is a milk snake. (:

king snakes or otherwise known as milk snakes have a striking resemblance to coral snakes and this mimicry (known as Batesian mimicry) likely scares away potential predators. While both milk snakes and coral snakes possess transverse bands of red, black and yellow, a common mnemonic can be used to properly distinguish between the deadly coral snake and the harmless milk snake:

"Red on yellow will kill a fellow, but red on black is a friend of Jack."
"If red touches black, you're okay Jack; if red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow."
"Red next to black, you can pat him on the back; red next to yellow, he can kill a fellow."
"Red next to black, venom I lack; red next to yellow, run away fellow."
"Red and black, friend of Jack; red and yellow kill a fellow."
"Yellow and red, you are dead; black and white you're alright."

However, the Eastern milk snake (L. t. triangulum) does not resemble a coral snake; instead it tends to have similar markings to that of several other snakes, particularly the fox snake, scarlet snake and most importantly, the Massassauga rattlesnake. Milk, fox, and scarlet snakes are killed because of a resemblance to the venomous rattlesnake. Juvenile milk snakes, which are more reddish than adults, are often killed because they are mistaken for copperheads. There is enough distinction among the five to make the Eastern milk snake fairly easy to identify. Eastern milk snakes also have a light colored v-shaped or y-shaped patch on their neck.
Milk snake activity is mostly nocturnal. They are primarily terrestrial and attempt to blend in with ground litter.

1. The color difference between a corn snake and king snake vary greatly.

You can prove the difference only if you're close enough to see the snake's�pupils ... Despite the snakes common name of the snake, non venomous snakes have round pupils.
Poisonous snakes often have a triangular head tapering towards the mouth, with the nonpoisonous species often possessing smoothly curved, U-shaped heads. However, some nonvenomous snakes may narrow their heads to warn off predators, while some may have a naturally pointed head. A striking example of the latter is the wine snake, which has a very pronounced 'tip' to its head. In most cases, though, it is wise not to approach a snake if it has a tapering head.

Thanks SBH, that was very informative. I love the rhymes that help folks remember which snakes are poisonous and which are not. I did not know a King Snake is the same as a Milk Snake. I've only heard the name as Milk Snake. Thanks for all the information!

I checked the photo again to be sure, and I am sure that this is a young Cornsnake. You can tell by the spearpoint shaped markings on its head. To be honest, I can tell because I have seen a LOT of them.

I have devoted much of my life to studying snakes for a little over 40 years (since I was 8). I have undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biology where I studied and conducted research in the evolutionary biology and molecular genetics of reptiles (including snakes) since I was a teenager. I also have spent literally thousands of hours out in the field, all over the US and other places in the world looking at, capturing, and photographing snakes.

I have probably seen somewhere in the range of 200 live milksnakes from across much of their range from Panama to South Carolina (I missed them in Ecuador and Connecticut). I have probably found five times that many "Cornsnakes" (Pantherophis guttatus, or its other various taxonomic iterations) from throughout its range, including Alabama. Although I have been to Montgomery a number of times, I haven't found either species there.

I can safely say I am an expert on snakes, and that I was one before there was an internet. I have been an invited guest speaker to talk about reptiles and amphibians to Audubon Society meetings, Herpetological meetings, etc., so I'm pretty comfortable saying that.

Furthermore, a kingsnake is not the same thing as a milksnake. Yes, they are both in the same genus, but name kingsnake is generally reserved for the species Lampropeltis getula (and some other species in the genus) while the name milksnake is only used for the species Lampropeltis triangulum. Interestingly, one subspecies of milksnake is actually known as the Scarlet Kingsnake, just to make matters more complicated. In fact, the race of milksnake in Montogomery is that "Scarlet Kingsnake" which looks nothing like the snake in your photo. Here's a photo of a Scarlet King from AL - http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/what/Reptiles/Snakes/scarlet.cfm

But to call most Milksnakes Kingsnakes would be equivalent to calling a Coyote a Dog. Yes, technically a Coyote is related to the Dog, and it is in the family Canidae, all of which can be called dogs, but it isn't a Dog in the normal sense.

I had a mentor in graduate school who was one of the world's most prominent and respected herpetologists (and a favorite son of the state of AL). Once when I was helping him give presentation to a group of Westinghouse employees, I remember him joking "anyone who is using nursery rhymes to identify snakes probably should just leave them alone." He didn't, and I don't mean that to sound in any way condescending, but the rule is very hard to interpret, harder to apply, and wrong many times. Lots of harmless snakes get killed because of the "red against yellow" rule or the "cat-like pupils" rule. There are no "one-liner" rules that will teach you to identify venomous snakes from harmless snakes in Montgomery, AL.

I am an imperfect creature like everyone else, but I can tell Lampropeltis triangulum from Pantherophis guttatus, whether they are hatchlings, subadults, adults and wherever in their ranges they happen to be found.

Sorry to get one a soapbox here, and I don't mean to disparage the other respondant, but I hate to see "experts" on the internet who give bad information, contradict sound information and then support their expertise by copying some text from someone else's rather poor website (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Milk_Snake) as evidence of authority.

Chris

This post was edited by FHFchrish on Thu, Jan 31, 13 at 0:28