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Can someone please tell me what kind of snake this is? Its eyes were clouded over so I assume it was getting ready to shed. It was found a few days ago in Game Land 38 in Pennsylvania at an elevation of about 1,926 feet. I would say it was about 24” long. It was in a very dry, sun drenched area. It looks like an adult milk snake but it also looks a little like a Northern Water snake…which would be sort of unusual as there were streams or other visible bodies of water close by. Wolf Swamp (really a kettle lake) was about 1 mile away. Its underside was whitish. It also rattled its tail or buzzed it like a milk snake does before it fled into the nearby underbrush.

Eastern Milksnake.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Thank you so much! What are the key diagnostic markings? I have never seen one with such subdued coloring.

To be honest, I didn't really use any key diagnostic characters to tell them apart. I've just seen enough eastern milk and northern watersnake photos to be able to tell them apart by their general gestalt.

I guess the shape of the head (not much bigger than the body diameter), the head scalation, the smoothness of the scales, the shape of the body blotches, and even the way it is laying all work together to lead to it being a milksnake.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Thanks much! I appreciate it!

It's in shed, therefore the colors are more dull than usual. Easterns can have a range of colors even when not in shed though.

Tim

Third Eye Herp