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Scarlet King Snake
Colouration.—Brilliantly ringed with scarlet, yellow and black. The scarlet rings are widest, and completely encircle the body with the majority of specimens; the yellow rings are about half the width of the red and bordered on each side by rings of black, which, on the back, are of about the same width as the yellow. On the sides the black rings become narrowed (owing to the widening of the yellow) and are very narrow or sometimes broken into blotches on the abdomen. On the abdomen, some of the yellow rings enclose spots. There is a yellow ring around the neck immediately behind the head; in front of it is a patch or band of black confined to the top of the head; the snout is red.
Dimensions.—This variety is of small size and slender of body, with a narrow head, not distinct from the neck and sharp and conical at the snout. The measurements are of a fully adult specimen from Marion County, Florida:
Distribution.—The southeastern United States, from central North Carolina, through Florida and westward to the Mississippi.
Habits.—The Scarlet King Snake is a burrowing species, thus demonstrating in habits, as well in form, its degenerate character as compared with the other snakes of the genus Ophibolus. Specimens may be most commonly found under the loose bark of fallen and decaying trees. Here they prey upon the smaller species of snakes, lizards or upon very young mice that are yet in the nest. It is probable that this little snake issues at night from its lair and searches in crevices in the bark for various lizards that crawl into such places to sleep. This theory appears logical after an examination of a series of preserved specimens, in which the stomachs of several contained the remains of swifts (Sceloporus) and "blue-tail" lizards (Eumeces).
The present form is the most pronounced and removed from the typical form of any of its varieties. It represents the greatest development of the ringed pattern, not only the black completely encircling the body, but the red and yellow as well. It is also the smallest of the forms, the most slender in proportion and possesses the most pointed snout. Compared with the most specialised of the spotted forms--the variety triangulus--the Northern Milk Snake, it might first appear, to the popular observer, in the discrepancy of size, entire difference of pattern and colours, form of body and shape of the head, to represent not merely a distinct species, but belong to a different genus as well. It has adopted burrowing habits. Degeneration has progressed rapidly. As an instance of this we find occasional specimens with the loreal plate (between the eye plate and the nasal plate) missing. If such a character were constant the snake would represent a very distinct species and be excluded from the genus Ophibolus. On such specimens the number of scale rows is also reduced--they have been described under the head of Osceola elapsoidea. As the intergrading forms are numerous--sometimes specimens with a loreal on but one side of the head--we cannot, at the present state of this reptile's development, give specific rank to specimens of this character.
Variations.--Young specimens differ from the adults in possessing white rings in place of the yellow. On some adult specimens the red and yellow do not completely encircle the abdomen, which is white in the centre, irregularly blotched with black. The sides, however, present a perfectly ringed pattern which distinguishes such individuals from the typical form.
Total Length. . . . . 14 inches.
Length of Tail. . . . . 2 1/8 inches.
Greatest Diameter. . . . . 1/4 inches.
Length of Head. . . . . 1/2 inches.
"Mimicry:" The Scarlet King Snake and another serpent of an entirely different genus--the Scarlet Snake (Cemophora coccinea) are quite similar in their colours and pattern to a poisonous reptile, the Coral Snake (Elaps fulvius), that inhabits the same areas as each of the former reptiles. As a consequence they are sometimes mistaken for the venomous snake and vice versa. A brief key, with a few words of explanation, will enable the student to easily separate these specimens.
The distinctive differences may be thus outlined:
Ringed, with yellow, red and black Red and yellow rings broad; the yellow bordered with narrower rings of black. Snout red; pointed. SCARLET KING SNAKE
Ringed, with yellow, red and black Red and black rings broad; the black bordered with very narrow rings of yellow; snout black, blunt and rounded. CORAL SNAKE
Banded above, with red, yellow and black Pattern above like Scarlet King Snake. Immaculate, yellowish-white beneath. SCARLET SNAKE