Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well folks, it's about time to hit the field, with visions of Milk Snakes dancing in my head. This time of year is just freaking EXCITING! The weather is warming and the critters are stirring. For the next couple of months, my wife ain't gettin' much outta me, I'll be in the woods. Hopefully to find a milk snake (and keep my average of about 1 milk per year up! LOL!)

I'm just a field guy. I don't have the patience, expertise, or the drive to be milk breeder. I have a tremendous amount of respect for you breeders. I can't imagine how much time, effort, and expense y'all put into the hobby. And, I think breeders make a huge contribution to herpetology and foster the love of herps.
Hats Off to you guys!

Some of these, I might have posted before, can't remember...

Winston Co., Alabama male, referable to syspila

Morgan Co., Alabama male, triangulum X syspila intergrade

Gilmer Co., Georgia male, a dark example of triangulum

Lawrence Co., Alabama male, referable to syspila

Montgomery Co., Texas amaura under tin (Thanks Robert!)

Morgan Co., Alabama male referable to Coldbrewskius annihilatus

Great lookin animals!, and excellent photo's to boot man!

I for one have a lot of respect and admiration for many of you field guys too. I wish I got out more often and did more of it myself!

Can't quite ID that freakish specimen in the last pic though..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thanks Doug. Now get out there and find a milk! And post a pic.

Saw this Southern Black Racer(Coluber c.priapus) cruising the fence for brown anole's a while back..LOL!

Yeah!, I KNOW!,.....not quite the coveted locality Scarlet Kings of my area..LMAO!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I suffer the same disorder. Im gettin awful excited myself. Im located in missouri and have already flipped a few rocks just because I cant wait. Luckily I usually find 6 or more a year and if I take the trip out to the middle of kansas I have found up to 12 in one day. While I have kept and bred several species I still never get the same enjoyment as I do being in the field collecting.

Yeah, Chris, there's nothing like being in the field and flipping a milk snake, it doesn't get any better than that.
I envy you guys up there in Milk Snake Heaven (Kansas, MO).
I went to central KS once, awesome herping up there. Things are a tad more difficult down here, it just makes you appreciate the finds more.

Hats Off to an Alabama field herper that take the time to share with us here on the forum.
Breeders don't have the patience, expertise, or the drive to do what you do.
I'm sure I'm speaking for several guys here when I say thank you for all your great posts.

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wake me when its april

Doug L

Hi Doug! I hope folks enjoy seeing pics of wild milks from different regions, I know I do. I love to see the posts of Dell and Cole and those awesome multistrats and also I really dig the Easterns that some of the folks post from the Northeast. It's all about the snakes, man.

scott

Liberty Co., FL

Nice Scarlet K!!

From smack dab in the middle of "goini/meansi" territory no less(Liberty and Franklin County)!

Have you ever been lucky enough to have captured, or at least seen any of those while in the field?. As most will certainly agree, they are quite the rarity, especially the completely patternless form.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

No Doug, I haven't, unfortunately. I've herped a few times in the region, but no Kings, and no Eastern Diamondbacks either.
But I did flip this once, It made up for no Kings or EDBs.

scott

Ahh yes,.....very cool photo of M.fulvius!

thanks for sharing that one!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Just fantastic, man. Any habitat shots you could share? Having never been to the south-eastern Coastal Plain (other than Florida), I have a hard time visualizing the "milky" habitat down there!

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us.
-Cole

Cole, in Alabama, milks are only found in the far north of the state, in the uplands, away from the coastal plain (unless you count elapsoides as a milk, and I don't).

Here's some typical milk habitat from NE Alabama. The edges of the Cumberland Plateau have lots of limestone outcrops. The power line cuts open things up and probably increase the lizard and mouse populations some. This is some pretty tough hunting.
The milks from this area are intergradient triangulum X syspila.

Here's more of the same from Morgan County. I found the Morgan Co. snake in the post here.

In NW Alabama, in the area I've found milks, the situation is a little different. Here the outcrops are fewer and the rock is sandstone. I found a big syspila at this site.

Hopefully I'll find another couple of milks this year and I'll post a pic or 3.

scott

Really cool stuff, Scott! I recognize one or two of those from some of your posts on FHF... and I like them just as much the second time around! Really, feel free to share that sort of stuff with us anytime. LOL

-Cole

Nice post Scott. I also remember a few of those habitat shots from years past, but always nice to see again, and the new ones are interesting to see indeed.
Your area looks bushy and leaf covered to say the least. It must be a satisfying feeling to find milks in tough habitat like that.

-Dell

.

Great snakes. Is that an E chord your playing?
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Mark

yep, an E.

check out my post on 4/5/10 a nice pic of my first red milk of the year.