Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A fellow herper found this in his yard today, He assumes a cat got it, He thinks it is a King X Gopher but I don't, Can anyone here give me a positive I.D.? It was located in Amador County California at about 1,200 foot elevation. Sorry for the gruesome images, trust me if there were anything I can do to change the outcome of this I would have. This is truly one awesome individual unlike any I have seen.



Foot Hill Reptiles

Looks like an aberrant cal king to me, I don't see any gopher in it.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

No hybrid, just a good ol' California kingsnake, and a nice one at that! Too bad.
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Todd Hughes

54564
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Diego

That was my guess, I searched for pictures on my Blackjack to show him that was what I thought it was but didn't have to much luck finding them, Statistical what are the odds of finding these in the wild? Would it be considered fairly rare? I would say so for this are as I have herped here since I moved here 13 years ago and never observed one.
Foot Hill Reptiles

Why was my last reply to this thread deleted? I didn't cross any lines I was aware of. Anyway, I've heard they could represent as high as 40% (in certain areas)of the overall population down to 5% or so. It really depends where and probably what type of habitat you are looking in. One thing good about DOR's is that you know right where to find them now. To me, aberrant Cal kings are the coolest snakes to find.
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Muhammad Ali

Looks like a "pure" Cal King to me.

Tim

Third Eye