Scarlet kingsnake

Identification

The scarlet kingsnake is a small, slender snake with smooth, shiny scales¹. Its body is ringed with red, black and yellow, and the red and yellow rings are always separated by black rings, so red never touches yellow; in young snakes the yellow rings may be white¹. The small head is barely wider than the neck and has a red snout, and the pupils are round¹. In Florida the rings run right round the body, but in Virginia many individuals have rings that do not meet on the belly^1,3.

Most adults are about 36–51 cm long, and the longest recorded was about 74 cm¹. Hatchlings are 13–18 cm long and look like small, brightly coloured adults².

Distribution

The scarlet kingsnake lives only in the south-eastern United States⁴. It ranges from Virginia south through Florida and west to Louisiana, and inland to Tennessee and southern Kentucky^2,4. It has been recorded in every county in Florida, with single records from Key Largo and Key West¹. In Georgia and South Carolina it is most often found on the Coastal Plain².

It was long treated as a subspecies of the milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides, but genetic studies showed it is a separate species^2,4. A 2022 genome-scale study supported recognising it, the eastern milksnake and the Central Plains milksnake as three species⁵.

Habitat

In Florida it usually lives in wet pine woods and moist hammocks, but it also uses drier habitats¹. Across the coastal plains it is most often found in sandy pine or mixed pine and hardwood forest². It hides under logs, bark, rocks and debris and often climbs into rotting pine stumps, shrubs and under loose bark on trees^1,2. It is sometimes found in barns, on buildings and in suburban neighbourhoods^1,2.

Behaviour

This snake is secretive and mainly active at night, often coming out on warm, humid nights in spring and early summer or after heavy rain². It is an excellent climber¹. When captured it may strike, vibrate its tail, bite and release a foul-smelling musk, although some individuals do not bite¹.

Its bright rings mimic the venomous coral snake, which helps protect it from predators². Where coral snakes are rare, at the edge of their range, scarlet kingsnakes resemble them more closely, and in experiments with snake replicas, predators there avoided only the close mimics⁶. After coral snakes disappeared from the North Carolina Sandhills around 1960, the local kingsnakes evolved even more precise mimicry over the next 50 years⁷.

Diet

The scarlet kingsnake feeds mainly on lizards, especially skinks, and on small snakes, which it kills by constriction¹. Larger individuals may also eat small mammals, and newborns eat small frogs and invertebrates¹. It also eats lizard eggs³. Its small, pointed head is well suited to probing under bark and into crevices for hidden prey².

Reproduction

The scarlet kingsnake lays eggs⁴. Mating takes place in spring, and females lay clutches of about 2–9 long, leathery eggs in early summer^1,2. The eggs are laid in rotting logs, underground or in piles of debris¹. In Florida they hatch between July and November¹.

Venom and medical significance

The scarlet kingsnake is non-venomous and is not dangerous to people or pets¹. If grabbed or pinned it may bite, but it has no venom¹.

Its main medical importance is that it looks like the venomous eastern coral snake⁸. In a study of 39 people bitten by eastern coral snakes, the most common situation was that the person had mistaken the coral snake for a harmless scarlet kingsnake⁸. Anyone bitten by a red, black and yellow snake that has not been identified for certain should get medical care immediately, as for a coral snake bite¹⁰.

Conservation

The scarlet kingsnake is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, in an assessment published in 2019⁹. It is widespread and locally common, though rarely seen because it is so secretive². Urban development and fire suppression have reduced its pine and scrub habitat in places, and some are killed on roads or by people who mistake them for coral snakes². It is protected by law in Georgia and South Carolina².

Similar species

The venomous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) shares its range and colours, but its red rings touch yellow rings and its snout is black with a yellow band behind it¹⁰, whereas in the scarlet kingsnake the red rings touch only black rings and the snout is red^1,11. The harmless scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea) has a more pointed red snout and rings that stop at the sides, leaving a plain whitish belly, while milksnakes also have red markings bordered by black^1,2,12.

The rhyme “red touches yellow, kills a fellow; red touches black, venom lack” fits these snakes in Florida most of the time, but unusual colour variants occasionally break it^1,10. It only works for coral snakes in the United States: some coral snakes in Mexico, Central America and South America have red rings touching white or even black rings, so the rhyme must not be relied on there¹². These differences are not a safe basis for handling any snake. Keep your distance from every snake you cannot identify.

In captivity

The scarlet kingsnake is harmless, but it is a wild animal protected by law in Georgia and South Carolina². Its longevity record is 22 years and 4 months³. Because it looks so much like a coral snake, it is safest to watch it from a distance and let it go on its way¹.