Description ⁴

Colubridae | milk snake
A rather slender, strongly blotched snake with a Y-shaped or V-shaped light patch on the nape. There are three (sometimes five) rows of brown or reddish brown, black-bordered blotches down the body, the middorsal ones quite large and alternating in position with the smaller lateral ones. Ground color gray to tan. Belly checkerboarded (often very irregularly) with black on white. Scales smooth; anal plate single.

Young: blotches bright red and forming basis for the name "red adder"

Habitat: fields, woodlands, rocky hillsides, river bottoms.

Conant, R., & Collins, J. T. (1998). A field guide to reptiles & amphibians: eastern and central North America (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) floracliff, all rights reserved, uploaded by floracliff
2. (c) Michael, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/28113115@N00/1129638037
3. (c) floracliff, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by floracliff
4. (c) floracliff, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• Snake Database
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

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