I am regularly contacted by people disturbed with seeing a snake they describe as having the appearance and habits of a rattlesnake. While their observations are certainly true, the snake in question is most likely a milk snake. And its name is a misnomer: this reptile does not take milk from cows but does search for food in barns where cattle may be present.
The markings of the milk snake are very much like those of copperhead and coral snakes. Both are extremely venomous but live in the southern part of the United States. Since when frightened or cornered the milk snake will rapidly vibrate its tail, making a sound that could be mistaken for that of a rattlesnake, few people wait around to study it at close range. Milk snakes are not intentionally harmful but will bite if handled carelessly.
Milk snakes are brightly coloured, smooth-scaled snakes that show a wide variety of blotches and colours from one part of their range to another. The base colour is creamy to light gray. A prominent series of brown, black-bordered blotches run down the back from head to tail of the slender body. Two sets of blotches run the length of the sides. The belly is a striking black and white checkered pattern. A prominent black or brown Y or W-shaped mark on the top of the head is a key field mark. A maximum length of 132 cm (four feet) has been recorded for this species but 91 cm (three feet) is considered large in Canada.
Southern Ontario and a narrow slice of Quebec along the Ottawa River seem to be the only areas blessed with the presence of the milk snake. The snake has been recorded fewer than ten times in Algonquin Park, which is on the northern border of their range.
About 90 percent of a milk snake's diet is made up of small rodents, mice, voles, moles, bats and chipmunks. Other food items include small fish, other snakes, and also birds and their eggs.
The milk snake kills its prey by constricting it in the coils of its body much like the boa constrictor of tropical areas. It does not however, crush its victim as the boa does. When a mouse is caught the milk snake quickly and tightly coils its body around its prey. Each time the mouse breaths out the coils tighten. The final result is that the prey dies by suffocation rather than being crushed.
Female milk snakes gather in egg-laying sites early in the summer. Often several clutches of eggs will be deposited within a meter of one another. Each female will lay up to 20 elliptical eggs which take about two months to hatch. The young do not reach sexual maturity until they are three years old and have a life span of seven years.
Milk snakes are very beneficial for rodent control but they are a bit feisty and are best left alone.
The markings of the milk snake are very much like those of copperhead and coral snakes. Both are extremely venomous but live in the southern part of the United States. Since when frightened or cornered the milk snake will rapidly vibrate its tail, making a sound that could be mistaken for that of a rattlesnake, few people wait around to study it at close range. Milk snakes are not intentionally harmful but will bite if handled carelessly.
Milk snakes are brightly coloured, smooth-scaled snakes that show a wide variety of blotches and colours from one part of their range to another. The base colour is creamy to light gray. A prominent series of brown, black-bordered blotches run down the back from head to tail of the slender body. Two sets of blotches run the length of the sides. The belly is a striking black and white checkered pattern. A prominent black or brown Y or W-shaped mark on the top of the head is a key field mark. A maximum length of 132 cm (four feet) has been recorded for this species but 91 cm (three feet) is considered large in Canada.
Southern Ontario and a narrow slice of Quebec along the Ottawa River seem to be the only areas blessed with the presence of the milk snake. The snake has been recorded fewer than ten times in Algonquin Park, which is on the northern border of their range.
About 90 percent of a milk snake's diet is made up of small rodents, mice, voles, moles, bats and chipmunks. Other food items include small fish, other snakes, and also birds and their eggs.
The milk snake kills its prey by constricting it in the coils of its body much like the boa constrictor of tropical areas. It does not however, crush its victim as the boa does. When a mouse is caught the milk snake quickly and tightly coils its body around its prey. Each time the mouse breaths out the coils tighten. The final result is that the prey dies by suffocation rather than being crushed.
Female milk snakes gather in egg-laying sites early in the summer. Often several clutches of eggs will be deposited within a meter of one another. Each female will lay up to 20 elliptical eggs which take about two months to hatch. The young do not reach sexual maturity until they are three years old and have a life span of seven years.
Milk snakes are very beneficial for rodent control but they are a bit feisty and are best left alone.
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