The above posts really tell a sad story...What we call a Brooks King used to have a definite range and distinctive look. You could go to Brooks canal and find the real thing. I have watched the natural range shrink to almost nothing due to over developement more than anything else. Now a lot of bogus snakes are being called Brooks. There are still a lot of legitimate examples out there...but also a lot of snakes being passed off to make more money for the people who misrepresent them. Brooks are not a Florida king that has maybe more red and grows to be mainly yellow...and Hypo brooks don't exactly match what used to be caught...However you wish to define a Brooks, three things were distinctive. The shorter snout, the (yes)pale white to lemon color...and most important, an extremely high band count (78 or more) that gave the illusion of patternlesness. There is a tendency when a ssp becomes rare in nature to question it's validity. Brooks were described long before DNA and were thrown into question when their habitat was turned into civilization....pretty sad.

Frank

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