Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,
This might be a dumb question to all of you, but i was hoping you could help satisfy my curiosity. I was at my mother's boyfriends house and he pulled out a dead snake he had in the freezer. I'm 100% sure it was a gray-banded king. Thing is, i live north-central part of kansas, along I-70. I didn't think these guys lived out here? Are gray-bands in kansas a common thing? Thanks for any insight,

carole

Everything I've ever read or studied leads me to believe that Kansas is way outside of the natural range of alternas, by several hundred miles. The Chihuahuan desert habitat, the flora and fauna, etc. of west Texas is different from Kansas. Although there are several herps whose ranges include both Kansas and west Texas - glossy snakes as an example - graybands have not been reported much farther north than about Rankin, Texas, if even that far. If indeed one was found in Kansas, I believe it was released there(heaven forbid)by some one, or it escaped from its owner. There are species of Lampropeltis in Kansas, such as milk snakes, which superficially may somewhat resemble a grayband, but even that is a stretch. Hope this can be of help to you. MSDDS

Thanks for the reply...
That's what i had been thinking too, and why i was getting myself confused. I was thinking maybe it was a maimi-phase cornsnake, but that wouldn't have made sense either, and i swear that darn thing is a grayband. hopefully someone didn't release Hopefully i'll be back out at his house in the next day or two, and be able to get some pictures. Curious thing is, the guys house is out towards the boondocks. Well i'll quit rambling. I'll try to get some pics to solve this fun little mystery. have a great day,

carole

because not only a Border patrol person said this but a highway patrolman said the smae thing several years ago. They both said/asked us " why would you want to come all the way down here to the Trans Pecos to find these grey-band snakes when you have them in Kansas " ( I'm a Kansas resident ). What they thought was " our grey-bands " turns out to be the Great Plains Rat Snake. Both law enforcement officers were oringinally from Kansas at one time.

Chambo

My bet is that it is a Prairie kingsnake, Lampropeltis calligaster.
Picture of a Prairie kingsnake