California Mountain Kingsnake in the San Gabriel Mountains

Found while road cruising late July 2007.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• reptile
• California
• Mountain
• Kingsnake
• zonata

[TheSnakeLibrary]

What a beautiful find! I cant wait till I run up on a species with this kind of coloration. I've been looking for Milk Snakes lately. Great video!

[rosspadilla13]

@TheSnakeLibrary Thanks a lot. Milks are very pretty also. Good luck!

[OCOrbits]

I love this. Every so often I come back to view this... it reminds me how I used to go back and stare at the world book encyclopedia pic with a pyro wrapped around a pine cone when I was a kid. I never thought something would take precedence over my rosy addiction , but these are the most amazing animals in the world. I love the vid- makes you feel like you're there. wow- i dream about these things! what a beautiful sight

[rosspadilla13]

@OCOrbits Thanks a lot, it was an amazing night. It was already a bad year for road cruising because of the drought in 2007. I hadn't found much that night, nothing good, until I came up on this snake. It looked like a Lyre from the car until I walked up on it. I was in awe when I realized what it was. It was my first Mnt king ever. Thanks for the comment.

[tricolorbrian]

Is that a real snake? I hate snakes. Ugh!

[rosspadilla13]

@tricolorbrian They hate you too. lol

[TheSnakeLibrary]

@rosspadilla13 Thank you!

[MrGreg433]

I have found 4 of these up the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. Three of them were 2 feet long and 1 was 3 feet and thick as a broomstick, every one of them bit me, multiple times. They were all in the summer and between 4 - 6 pm. The East Fork is rattlesnake heaven

[stimpymedic]

red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black, friend of jack

[AdamerKeithski]

Must be a thrill to find! I have the Sierran subspecies (L.z.multicincta ) in my collection as well as a pair of L.pyromelana knoblochi, and love them all. Mountain kings--zonata or pyromelana--will always be some of my favorite snakes.