The Western Milksnake is a constrictor and eats lizards, smaller snakes, and small rodents. It breeds in spring and lays from 3-24 eggs during late May and into June, that hatch in August or September. It actively seeks out and feeds on mice and other small rodents that infest barns and other farm buildings. The Western Milksnake is active from March to October. Also, people sometimes kill Eastern Milk Snakes because of their resemblance to the Northern Copperhead Snake.Īctually, the Eastern Milk Snake is a beneficial animal, especially on farms. The Eastern Milk Snake suffers from one of the myths about snakes, that it milks cows. It often occurs on farms, and sometimes it wanders into houses. It lives in a variety of local habitats such as fields, woodlands, rocky hillsides and river bottoms. In Ohio this snake has been found in central, southern, and northwestern parts of the state. The Eastern Milk Snake ranges throughout much of the northeastern United States from Maine southward in the Appalachians, and westward to parts of Minnesota and Iowa. Copperhead Snakes have dark bands of color that cross the back, rather than individual spots or blotches. They can be separated by the arrangement of the dark color along the back of the snake. The Eastern Milk Snake looks something like the venomous Northern Copperhead Snake. Those spots that occur in the middle of the back are much larger than those along the sides. The spots are reddish-brown or brown and have black borders. Some authors refer to these spots as blotches. That color is broken with 3, sometimes 5, longitudinal rows of large, dark irregular spots. The basic color of this snake is gray to tan. The Eastern Milk Snake is a relatively slender snake. The Eastern Milk Snake is closely related to the Black Kingsnake, which also lives in Ohio.Typical foods: small rodents, birds, lizards and snakes (including venomous snakes).Body length at hatching: 5½ - 11 inches.
Eggs hatch in 6 - 9 weeks and young are 5 - 12 inches (13 - 30 cm) long. Mates in spring and lays 2 - 20 elongated eggs in June or July. Habitat: Woods, meadows, river bottoms, farms and cities Milksnakes are a mess at the moment and we're waiting on the new OK herp field guide to be published in order to get the new taxonomy info.
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