Eastern Milksnake: An Introduction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- Thank you for tuning in to Outside with yours truly. You can find more of my work on the following platforms:
Instagram: / outsidewithseb
Twitter: / outsidewithseb
For more information on the Eastern Milk Snake, I encourage you to check out these resources:
Books:
1. Snakes of the United States and Canada by Carl Ernst
2. Snakes of the Eastern United States by Whit Gibbons
Online Resources:
www.virginiahe...
www.paherps.co...
Until next time, take care!
Sebastian
I appreciate you posting this video. I just saw in my laundry room what I thought it was a milksnake, your video confirmed it...thank you !
Happy you enjoyed it!
I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, spent my whole life in the woods, and a good bit of that time spent flipping rocks and other debris looking for snakes. I've only ever found ONE milkshake/Kingsnake, and it was an absolutely tiny Eastern Milkshake. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was feisty and immediately took off, I didn't wanna touch it because I was unsure if I was looking at a baby copperhead or not. As it happens, baby Eastern Milkshakes look a heck of a lot like copperheads. Their colors are totally different than their adult colors. Eventually it stopped and I realized what it was.
Such a cool snake.
I’m happy to hear you were hesitant to pick it up, always better to be safe than sorry. Eastern Milks really are spectacular, hope you find more in the future. Thanks for sharing that!
I second the motion for ringneck snake. Corn snake would be great too
Found an eastern milk snake in my back garden last summer and was super excited to discover it again today!! Wanted to double check that I was correct identifying the species and that’s how I ended up at this video 😅
Milkshake (as christened by typo) measures about 2 feet and change, super pretty. Very happy to have ‘em around ✨
Congrats on having a resident Milksnake! I’m happy to hear it’s wandered onto a property where it is welcomed!
Nice job. As a child living in NY and hardcore reptiles and amphibians enthusiast at an early age, I thought I would have such a hard time finding eastern milks. Boy was I wrong. Once I actually found snd set up suitable habitat, I found out how locall common these be reptiles could be. Such a gem of nature. Always been a milk/corn and king fan. Always will be.
Thank you sir. And I had a similar experience. When I first saw photos of Milks, I thought it’d be too hard to find something that beautiful regularly. But once you find a nice spot, it’s like clock work.
Thanks for sharing man.
I found an eastern milk while hiking today in a small wildlife refuge near Rochester NY right near my home. Man what a beauty.
@@outsidewithsebastian I know a spot over by Luck Wisconsin that they can be found pretty easily, and so far, not one of them has even tried to bite me. A beautiful and (seemingly) mellow reptile...
@@chonqmonk they’re very docile, I agree. I’ve had smaller milks bite me but you can hardly feel anything, their teeth are tiny.
Lately I’ve been opting for less handling when possible, so I’m not stressing out every snake that I see.
I hope some milksnakes find their way to my garden! I have an abundance of small critters and we could use some predators to balance everything out. Thanks for sharing!
Happy to share thank you for watching. Fingers crossed you get some garden milk snakes!
Very informative video on the Milk snake. I live in Southern Ontario and I've actually never come across a Milk snake even though I hike quite frequently until this past summer. I was hiking along a path and there was a Milk snake sunning itself in the afternoon sun. They really are amazing looking snakes.
Happy you enjoyed the video. I too have had some luck finding them basking, which is always surprising since I understood them to be nocturnal/crepuscular. Hope you get to see more!
Great video! Thanks.
Thank you. Just found your channel.
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
Now the " Official " snake of Illinois. Nice video, Thanks for the information.
Thanks for watching!
Dude I have so much respect for you. AWESOME educational video!
I appreciate that, thanks Brandon!
Milksnakes are awesome. Great video!
Thanks Gabe! Really appreciate it
Great job! I've shared this video and your Timber Rattler video on the Kanawha Valley Master Naturalists page. Great information!
Thank you so much for sharing these videos! Means a lot and I’m glad you enjoyed them!
I live in upstate NY and found one of these guys inside of my house this afternoon. Not at all what I expected walking into my kitchen, but damn if it isn't beautiful.
That’s awesome. Snakes often wander into peoples homes to escape really warm or really cold weather. Thank you for sharing!
Really nice video, enjoyed the pacing and information. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the feedback 🙏🏽 really glad you enjoyed it
I have 1 for a pet and she is very docile and calm. I also like the fact that they stay pretty small. She is really nice unless you're a mouse. I had a previous female who lived for 20 years.
I found an Eastern Milksnake in my woodshed, where I also found Five lined skinks. I guess the milksnake was hunting those skinks.
Certainly possible, or both the skinks and the milk snake think your woodshed is nice and warm enough to live in. Either way cool stuff.
I’ll never forget the first milks I found. In my area there’s usually only garters and rats, water snakes near water but that’s about it… flipped a nice rock on rock and found 2 midsized milks and thought they were weird rat snakes cuz I was like 12 and that pattern is so common in the east US. I did notice they didn’t have much of a neck and were much stronger than a rat snake!
In fact they managed to escape before I could ID them, I had them in a 5 gallon bucket with plywood on top and a cinder block weighing that down… next morning and the block had fallen off and the plywood slid over creatin a gap… maybe they had some help but I kind of doubt it… wish they were more common here… it’s so tempting to try to reestablish species in areas they seem to have eliminated from… but if they left or were killed in an area then it’s likely best to not expose more of them to that fate… I guess… tho the opposite argument could be made… either way I enjoy them we’re I find them and leave them there, at least I do now, as a kid I had to touch it all and bring most home to study 🤷🏽
Seems to be pretty common amongst snake enthusiasts who experience snake hunting when they’re young. Glad you’ve grown to leave things where they are. I too felt the need to pick up every snake I found but recently I’ve tried to do less of that. Appreciate your comment, hope you find more milks soon!
They can get pretty big. Most will grow up to 36 inches but you can come across some pretty sizable specimens of 40" or larger. The biggest I've found was a 49" male from Brooklyn NY. The record is 52" I was shy just by a few lol.
Yeah I’ve seen some titans. Most of the ones I encounter are around 2-2.5 feet or smaller
Wish they can grow the size of eastern king snakes. Can't wait to find my first of 2022
I have a 50 inch hypo Honduran milk:) jus bought from bob clark
awesome.
I'm pretty sure I just found one warming itself under our cellar doors. I found a snake skin hanging from a board leading from our basement to the cellar doors. Then I look over and there it was. Beauty. I think I'll let it take care of our mice for a while longer.
Happy to hear it’s wandered into a welcoming home! Hope you get to have more interactions with this species, such a gem. Thanks for sharing!
Would you be willing to make a video on our teeny tiny ringneck snake?
Absolutely. Ringnecks deserve some shine!
One of my favorite little snakes!! Theyre beautiful, quite docile, and helpful. What sucks is ive seen these little buddies be mistaken for copperheads by absolute doofuses before, and meet the end of a shovel by force. Educate people so this dont happen anymore.
I’m happy you feel the same way! Education is often the best tool to create change. A quick and polite chat with a neighbor can go a long way. Thank you for advocating for their welfare!
illinois just declared this their new state snake
Love it 🙏🏽
The most beautiful of Ohio's indigenous snakes. Yes, that's my opinion, but I'm not wrong. ;)
I’d second that, Milk snakes are one of a kind
I agree, I have a special love for the black ratsnake though. It's sad how rare they've become near me. I never would've thought that milk snakes would become more common but that's what happened. People kill big old snakes when there's little habitat left and that's too much.
Coral snakes!
Excellent choice! Wish I lived within range of that species.
Great Video...i just Posted a Video on my Channel of a Snake I need ID if, I'd really appreciate you looking at and commenting, Thanks so much for sharing Your Knowledge of snakes.
Don't put a rock back over a snake. You risk squashing it. Put the rock back next to the snake.