Quote:
Originally posted by Spanky
When I was a kid in Los Altos Hills I used to come across King snakes all the time. It is amazing how harmless they are. I also once saw a rattlesnake. Scared me half to death. The conventional wisdom at the time was that the King snakes would eat the rattlesnakes so it was good to have the King Snakes around. So whenever I would see a King Snake it made me feel good because I assumed that there would be no rattle snakes around. If we found a King snake somewhere else we would always bring it back and put it in our yard. I hadn't thought about that in thirty five years. Now looking back on it, the idea that king snakes would eat rattle snakes seems pretty preposterous.
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Looks like CW was correct:
Ecological Niche King snakes eat a wide variety of small animals including other snakes, lizards, rodents, small birds, and eggs of any kind. Their primary predators are owls, hawks, alligators, and larger king snakes.
Life Cycle King snakes lay a clutch of 8 to 20 eggs in late spring or early summer in compost or other loose material. The young hatch after 6 to 8 weeks depending upon the temperature. These snakes may live to 25 years of age.
Behavior and physical adaptations King snakes kill their food by constricting it before swallowing it. They even eat venomous snakes and are immune to the venom. The color of the snake will vary from black to brown depending upon the habitat where it is found.
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/~b.../kingsnake.htm
