Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake

The sonoran mountain kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana) is native to the sonoran desert ranging from Arizona,U.S.A. to Sonora,Mexico. This king is very commonly confused for the sonoran coral snake, which is also a native of the same area. To not confuse the two, just remember this rhyme:"red touch yellow can kill a fellow, red touch black venom lack."

MIMICRY

The sonoran mountain kingsnake, like several species of milksnake, uses mimicry to defend itself. It is colored in a similar pattern as the Sonoran Coral Snake which posseses neurotoxic venom that attacks the nervous system. This is why predators stay away from the kingsnake, just in case. But unlike the coral snake, the sonoran mountain kingsnake is non-venomous, and is actually quite gentle along with most other kingsnakes. For this reason, it is also a pet species of snake.

DIET

Like most snakes, the sonoran mountain kingsnake feeds on basicaly anything it can swallow whole. It most likely feeds on desert shrews, cliff chipmunks, rock squirrels, harris' antelope squirrels, round-tailed ground squirrels, deer mice, cactus mice, white-throated woodrats, gambel's quail, scaled quail, common ravens, cactus wrens, curve-billed thrashers, black-throated sparrows, western rattlesnakes, Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnakes(Arizona's state reptile), western diamond-back rattlesnakes, and black-tailed rattlesnakes.

CHARACTERISTICS

The sonoran mountain kingsnake has black, white, and red bands running down it's body, it uses these as a form of mimicry as shown in the MIMICRY paragraph. It is non-aggressive as also said above.