Herpetofauna: One Life's List

Lampropeltis calligaster calligaster
Prairie Kingsnake

Horn's Grove, St. Louis Co.. Missouri Spring 1973

My first 'big' snake as a kid was a three foot calligaster, found crossing a gravel road in a small patch of woods about a mile from the St. Louis city limits.  This was a very exciting event for a young lad used to catching Garter and Brown Snakes..  Prairie Kings are usually calm serpents, rarely offering to bite.  Not the prettiest of snakes, but they do have a nice contrasting pattern which works well in the grassland areas they inhabit. Old Prairie Kings, the big four footers, often have lost their blotch patterns, and may even sport four faint longitudinal stripes!  That can be confusing the first time you find an old striper. The biggest calligaster I ever saw measured four feet six inches and was striped like a chicken snake.

Tennant and Bartlett refer to this snake as 'uncommon', but in Missouri and Illinois I have found them with frequency and regularity over the years.  The grassy shoulders along roads seem to be a favorite habitat - I've found a number of them there, on my way to find other snakes!  I imagine they were a very common snake back before the plow broke the prairie.

The top picture is a Missouri specimen, and the bottom snake is from Kansas.