Lampropeltis triangulum - Milksnake

Adult, Terrell County, Texas.

Milksnakes from this area are considered to be intergrades of Lampropeltis triangulum celaenops and Lampropeltis triangulum annulata - the Mexican Milksnake (Dixon, Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas) (although Dixon and Werler's range map in Texas Snakes shows them to be pure annulata.) A pure L. t. celaenops from Arizona is shown below for comparison.

(This snake was mortally wounded by a careless driver and died a few hours after these pictures were taken. Such accidents are without a doubt responsible for the removal of the vast majority of snakes from their natural habitat, even though so-called authorities claim that the removal of snakes by collectors is the greater threat to the survival of snake species. In fact, neither road mortality nor roadway collecting appears to be a serious threat to snake species, as they continue to exist along these roads.)