I actually had to do a zoology paper on just that subject but the prey item was a diamondback. I basically had to compile a group of studies that examined if a kingsnake could over power and ingest a larger diamondback. I found that the Cali. king could kill larger snakes and would TRY to ingest them. If identical in size or only slightly larger the king could ingest and digest because the king will force the prey into a "zig-zag" shape in their own body thereby decreasing the length. If there is a notable difference (it was not statistically determined what that difference was when i did the paper) then the king could kill it, but when ingested it would regurgitate it if not immediately soon after ingestion.

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