Help identify this snake

10 years ago

This little guy slipped in the front screen door that wasn't latched. May have bitten my small dog who was very intrigued.

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Comments (5)

User
10 years ago
That is a juvenile Prairie Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster). They are harmless rodent eaters.
kansasguy thanked User
kansasguy
Original Author
10 years ago
Excellent, thanks! I was thinking maybe a rat snake but it didn't have the line across the eyes.

Might he be a good inhabitant for my chicken coop, to keep rodents under control?
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I concur with fhfchrish....ditch the glue traps! Those things are extremely barbaric and result in very slow, drawn-out suffering of captured animals, especially reptiles, which take a long time to die, but which also have very advanced sensory nervous systems, meaning that they feel pain very acutely. If you wouldn't do this to a puppy or kitten, it's just as wrong to inflict this torture on a reptile. IF you accidentally capture a snake or lizard on a glue trap, you can spray PAM cooking spray on it or pour cooking oil on it to dissolve the glue and gradually let the animal work itself loose, but often by the time they are discovered they have seriously injured themselves trying to escape.
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Sandplum1
10 years ago
http://www.slideshare.net/lawrenceks/know-your-kansas-snakes
Sharon McKenzie
10 years ago
He'd be an excellent inhabitant for a chicken coop, provided that the chickens don't eat HIM! Prairie Kings feed almost exclusively on rodents and smaller snakes, but don't have as much appetite for eggs as the Rat Snakes, but at this size, he's more of a meal for a chicken, anyway. To a chicken, small snake=worm.
kansasguy thanked Sharon McKenzie
kansasguy
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Sharon. I considered what you said and decided that IN the coop may not be the best home, but as our coop is about 6" above grade, up on cinder blocks, with the foundation surrounded by limestone rip rap, I'd let him go under the coop. It's a separate area from the outdoor chicken run as well. Hopefully he finds a nice home there. If he wanders into the run and turns to chicken food...well, circle of life I guess.

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Help identify this snake

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kansasguy
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Help identify this snake

Comments (5)

User

kansasguyOriginal Author

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Sharon McKenzie

kansasguyOriginal Author

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kansasguy
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