Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friend and i found this snake while road hunting at night. hurricane isabel had just swept the east coast the week of sept. 15th. central virginia felt the effects of the storm thursday the 18th with lots of rain. we went out hunting the next night, albeit a little skeptical about whether we'd see anything. we did catch a small Corn snake on our way out. on the way back, we saw what i initially thought was an Eastern Milk crossing the road. i stopped and my friend got out to catch it before it got away. both of us were shocked and elated when we viewed it in the headlights. we don't know if there've been any recorded accounts of a snake like this collected in Bedford County, Virginia. now we're trying to figure out if it's a Scarlet snake or a Scarlet Kingsnake or maybe just a pattern deviation or an intergrade. some of the following pictures aren't that great(i apologize), but as you will see, the bands don't encircle the body while at the same time the snake lacks the prominent rostral scale present in Scarlet snakes. we welcome any and all comments and suggestions.

No Doubt it is L.triangulum. The new pictures clearly show that the belly has a pattern (though reduced) also the snout is not right for a scarlet snake and the orange collar that all scarlet snakes have is absent. It is an intergade.
Frank