Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Not too many of these on the forum so I thought I'd share a quick picture. Christian Co. KY locality.
Josh

That's awesome! I do not know why there aren't a bunch if these around, it's a killer snake. Here's my pike county Indiana, I have a pair of F1's from WC parents.

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Gerard

"I, Rule the midnight air, the destroyer. Born, I shall soon be there, deadly mass. I, Creep the steps and floor, final darkness. Blood, Lamb blood painted door, I shall pass."

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Very nice. Mine is from a locality that is nearing the intergrade zone. Not quite there, but close. It will be interesting to see how his pattern turns out as an adult.

I love NATURAL intergrades, I have a lot of different ones from north Florida. My blacks are from a pure locality, I can't wait to see how ours grow up. My pair are beasts, they will eat every day, no problem.
This is the girl, not as black but changing every day it seems.

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Gerard

"I, Rule the midnight air, the destroyer. Born, I shall soon be there, deadly mass. I, Creep the steps and floor, final darkness. Blood, Lamb blood painted door, I shall pass."

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Christian county should be solidly non-intergrading L.g.nigra. It is actually a fair distance from actual intergradation with holbrooki which occurs along the Mississippi River corridor. Keep in mind however that there is still a fair degree of variation within populations and some are more apt to retain remnants of the juvenile coloration than others. Nice looking snake btw!

Phil

Thanks for the info, I was hoping you would have some input. Being from eastern KY I'm not as familiar with the western KY populations so I'm anxious to see the progression. All the ones I have personally encountered on this end of the state have had very little yellow, usually just on the head and belly.

That tends to be the trend, beginning somewhere roughly from around Grayson county eastward. I like them all personally. Very interesting snakes for sure!

Phil

Here's a photo of a black kingsnake that we found in Hopkins county KY which is the county just north of Christian. This may give you some idea on what to expect as your snake matures. Most western KY (but not all) populations of nigra tend to have at least some patterning as adults. This patterning can be rather bold in some populations and very faint in others.

As an aside, the snake in the photo is the largest black kingsnake recorded from the wild. It was authenticated at 60.13" in length. I believe larger ones exist and we have found several prior to this one that we are confident exceeded this length.

Phil

Awesome info and even better snake. That's one big boy you guys found, very cool, love the site!
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Gerard

"Dream the same thing every night, I see our freedom in my sight.
No locked doors, no windows barred, no things to make my brain seem scarred. "

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Thanks! That was one nice snake for sure. The best part of it was we were able to get the vets at the Louisville Zoo to tranqualize the snake for the measurements and afterwards release the snake back into the gene pool.

Phil

Yeah, I read that on your site,very cool. I really appreciate all the locality info you guys have gathered. I like to see how a species various geographically and the detail is amazing.
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Gerard

"Dream the same thing every night, I see our freedom in my sight.
No locked doors, no windows barred, no things to make my brain seem scarred. "

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

WOW, very nice. I'm sure a five footer is an unbelievably impressive thing to behold in the field. I do remember one large one a friend and I found in Rowan Co. KY, he had many battle scars and was the most tolerant wild snake I've ever encountered. Unfortunately I was a poor college student and usually had a disposable camera at best.
I like the yellow banding, so maybe a little of it will stick with him.
I'm traveling to LBL/ Barkley state Park next week for work, so hopefully I can get out in the evenings and look around. I'm still hoping for a lifer water moc!

Very nice!. Look forward to seeing how that one will mature..

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

"some are just born to troll and roll"

Very cool looking.
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Hi Josh,
many thanks for the nice pic!

In some old KS books you can read about a "L.getula nigra".
Is your black king one of them and how are they called today?

yours
Michael

>>Hi Josh,
>>many thanks for the nice pic!
>>
>>In some old KS books you can read about a "L.getula nigra".
>>Is your black king one of them and how are they called today?
>>
>>yours
>>Michael

They are still L. g. nigra......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Thanks!

Formerly they were known as niger instead of nigra. The change to nigra was made to reflect the proper gender syntax of Lampropeltis.

Phil

NP