The most exciting part of my recent visit to southern California was seeing a few of these spectacular serpents in the field. This is one of the most strikingly colored snakes in North America. Its colors really stand out on its smooth, shiny scales.
This reptile is endemic to North America and a Coral Snake mimic, having a similar pattern consisting of red, black, and yellow on its body, but kingsnakes are completely harmless.
These are slender, smooth and medium-sized snakes usually about 24-30 inches long. Most Coast Mountain Kingsnakes live in the mountains of southern California, but they can adapt to a wide variety of habitats, including coniferous forests, oak-pine woodlands, riparian woodlands, chaparrals and coastal sage scrubs.
Coast Mountain Kingsnakes are constrictors, their diet includes lizards, smaller snakes, nestling birds and bird eggs and small mammals. Once a family with several subspecies, Mountain Kings in California are now considered two species, this one and one in the northern part of the state known as the California Mountain Kingsnake.
This reptile is mostly diurnal, but can be active at night in warmer weather. it is an excellent climber and prefers southwestern facing slopes, often retreating beneath granite flakes of rocks. It was awesome to see this species of snake in the wild.