Thanks Steve, yes the calligaster in this area do seem to be particularly stout. I think they are probably doing better here now than in historical times. Abandoned farms have created that perfect mixture of open space and edge habitat for them to live in. We see some good size prairies here. The largest we saw last year field measured at 56" from Calloway county. We see bigger L.g.nigra, but not by much. The largest of those are probably a few inches in excess of 5'. What we have in KY are the forest variety of calligaster. Generally darker than their counterparts that live in actual prairie in the western part of their range and with less contrast as adults. Most of our snakes mature in to an almost unicolorous gun metal gray with only faint pattern.

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