>>Awesome explanation. I appreciate the info. Now that I think about it, seeing mtn kings in the wild, I can see that if crawling in the open, their outline would be broken up greatly among the leaves and debris on the ground.>>

Thank you. I am glad you agree.

>>That seems more plausible than every tricolor king/milk is mimicing a venemous coral snake. Besides, many snake predators will tackle a coral snake with the same gusto as a non-venemous snake. And now you have stated that going further, animals really do not fear a red-ringed snake any more than any other snake.>>

Coral snakes themselves are rather docile and they have short fangs. They are hardly the fearsome animals that they are often portrayed by the people who support the aposematic theory of the tricolored pattern. Predators are cautious. I cannot read the mind of a hawk, but I believe that they treat all snakes as potentially venomus and try not to get bitten. An aggressive snake that strikes repeatedly or one that is too big for the predator to handle would probably be more fearsome to an avian predator than one that has a particular color or color pattern.

>>You made another excellent point - these animals have striking coloration when in an acrylic display with a black background, but this does not mean they stand out in their habitat.
>>-----
>>Mark

Thank you again. As Zweifel and Goodman and Gooman observed, mountain kingsnakes are in fact cryptic in their native environment: the woodland floor. As the original poster showed, he is perfectly camourflaged on his couch. But if we put him in an aquarium large enough to hold him, his outfit would look striking and conspicuous too.

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