Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been searching around south Florida for about 9 years and still haben't run across a scarlet kingsnake. I have seen a few coral snakes and scarlet snakes. What am I doing wrong? Does anyone have any tips or any recomendations on an areas where I can observe (I dont collect wild snakes) a wild scarlet kingsnake in south Florida. THanks

Well you seem to be finding simpatric species. You should be
on the right track. Scarlets usually have two seasons, and this coensides with where in the habitat you find them. Spring vertical, summer horizontal. Just clues. You also usually have to get out and scrubb, around quite a bit to find them, not often found just out and about.
lol.

You have mail...

Funny you should mention SK's. I did a little road cruising tonight, and spotted the usual suspects........a couple of ribbons, one banded water, and a nice 4 foot corn snake. All of these were AOR. Then just a couple minutes from my house, in a suburban neighborhood........voila.....a 20" Scarlet King, also AOR. The first thing I noticed was how warm to the touch this snake was at 9:45 PM. This guy may have just been displaced, as there is a lot of new home construction on this street. This is in southern Brevard County, FL. What county in South Florida have you been hunting?

I have mostly been trying in Miami-Dade County, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier and Hendry counties. Actually I went out last night to northern Collier county and found a DOR scarlet king on a small bridge near some pines and orange groves. I have also seen two other DOR sk's in Apalachicola National Forest.

One thing that I have really noticed is how much larger and more colorful the SKs are from south Florida.
In the Apalachicola area they are very common and easy to find but they also seem smaller, thinner and less colorful than the average south Florida specimen.

Some of the ones from old overgrown orange groves down in Broward that I found were HUGE! Many over 22" and I've seen 26 inchers that friends have caught. My largest was a 24 1/2" female with lemon yellow bands.

I've seen some 28-30 inchers come out of the groves in Davie, but that was 30 years ago. That area is all housing developments and shopping centers now. There is definitely a connection with citrus groves in the South Florida area. I'm getting pumped up. I'm gonna take another cruise tonight, as I hear a little thunder rumbling outside.

Are you sure ??????

I think Broward County used to have the largest population of them. They were also the largest and most beautiful SKs too.
We used to hunt around Flamingo Road and they were everywhere the big, old Australian pines where.

I found a big male last year in the Everglades National Park that was mostly black.
One thing about SKs too---they are often out cruising much later than other snakes.