Non-poisonous Snakes Identification

Prairie Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster)

Snake 30 to 52 inches in length. A slender snake with variable coloration and maculation. Color most commonly brown with a slight reddish tinge, but also gray-brown, tan, or yellow-brown. Dorsal surface with a series of rectangular saddles and each side with two alternating, irregular rows of spots. Head usually with a v-shaped mark on the crown, although this mark may be weak to absent. All markings sometimes obscured by dark coloration in older individuals. Anal plate single. Scales smooth. Scales in 25 or 27 rows. The space between dorsal saddles is about equal in width to the saddle; belly white to yellow.

Prairie Kingsnakes can be found from Maryland in the east, southward to northern Florida and westward through the southeastern states to central Texas. The western part of its range extends northward from Texas throughout Oklahoma and eastern Kansas to most of Illinois.