Mole Kingsnake
By Frederick Boyce
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There is a new snake to see in the Snake Pavilion at the North Carolina Aquarium
at Pine Knoll Shores.—one that is rarely seen or exhibited because of its secretive
nature and specialized burrowing habits. Although it is native to the Piedmont and
the Coastal Plain of our state, the mole kingsnake is much less familiar to most
people than its close relative, the conspicuously black and white eastern, or chain,
kingsnake. Both belong to the genus Lampropeltis, which includes the king and milk
snakes.
These snakes are all nonvenomous constrictors which subdue their prey by
squeezing it to death in their powerful coils, and they will gladly eat other snakes, as
well as rodents and other small mammals, lizards, occasional birds and sometimes
turtle eggs. They have smooth, shiny scales, and small, streamlined heads that are
more or less bullet-shaped and do not diverge from the body.
The mole kingsnake, with its delightfully unhandy scientific name of
Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata (which has the same number of syllables as
“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”) is a southeastern subspecies (race) of the very
widespread Prairie kingsnake, which is found throughout much of the Midwest.
As with many other snakes, there is some degree of regional variability, resulting
in snakes from certain specific locations having brighter, more vibrant colors or
perhaps more distinctive patterns, making them more desirable to herpers (the
reptile-amphibian equivalent of birders). In our state, there are two distinct color
phases of the mole kingsnake. The more normal, default coloration is a plain brown
or tan ground color with a pale yellowish underside and a series of small, widely
spaced reddish rectangles down the middle of the back, positioned at right angles
to the spine. Compared to the square red blotches on a corn snake, for instance, the
blotches on a mole king are much smaller and spaced much farther apart. In mature
individuals these markings are often faded and very indistinct, and older snakes can
be just plain brown with a pale belly.
My father once long ago brought me such a snake in a mayonnaise jar. He had
turned it up while ploughing on our farm and didn’t know what kind of snake it was
(though he knew it was not a copperhead, the only venomous species we had in our
area). More surprising, at least to me, was the fact that I didn’t know what kind of
snake it was either—a rather humbling experience for a nine-year-old herpetologist
who thought he knew everything there was to know about snakes, or our local ones
anyway. I had to look it up in my Peterson Field Guide, but even then it wasn’t easy
to identify, as the small red rectangles on my specimen had almost completely faded
away, leaving me with a very plain brown snake and giving me the very erroneous
first impression that mole kingsnakes were not all that attractive.
The photo accompanying this article of a stunning example I found recently in the
NC Piedmont begs to differ. While not well known to lay people, mole kings rank
very high on the list of snakes that absolutely delight herpers, for whom they are
a favorite target species in the field. A mole king is always considered to be a prize
find, and its photos are sure to find their way into any proud herper’s Facebook feed.
The typical brown-tan phase occurs in the Piedmont as well as in the Coastal Plain,
but there is also a red phase—a rich red-wine color with dark, almost black, blotches
or narrow bands—that occurs only near the coast. Several snakes in our area exhibit
this tendency to be red, or erythristic, most notably the red-phase Carolina pygmy
rattlesnakes that all the others, which are nonvenomous, are often presumed to be
trying to mimic. The real reason for these red coastal Carolina snake specialties
remains a mystery, but whatever the reason, the mole kingsnake now on display at
the aquarium is a fine example of this coastal red phase—and a very attractive little
reptile it is.
Frederick Boyce is the staff herpetologist at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
Brown phase of the mole kingsnake photographed in the North Carolina
Piedmont—Photos by Fred Boyce
Coastal red phase mole kingsnake at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores
PKS Fishing Tournament
Mark your calendars for the 3rd Annual Pine
Knoll Shores Fishing Tournament on October 20.
Invite your kids and grandkids to enjoy good fishing
and laughs at the weigh-in.
There will be a separate competition for kids 12
and under as well as
the regular tourna
ment. Start practic
ing now and find the
best places to fish.
Details and rules
will come later.
The Shoreline I July 2018