The temperatures are starting to rise, which means we’ll soon see snakes slithering on our property. An Atlanta group would like you to go looking for one species of them.
Urban Kings: A Citizen Science Project has been studying the success of Eastern kingsnakes in urban environments to understand how urbanization is shaping wildlife connectivity.
Although snake season is typically during the summer months, Urban Kings has already had a kingsnake sighting or two.
“Even on cool February days, kingsnakes come out to bask if they have a nice spot in the sun,” the group posted on its Facebook page.
Considering how big Georgia is, Urban Kings recruits residents to help track these backyard beauties — and beauties they are.
Eastern kingsnakes have smooth, shiny black scales with white or yellow chainlink bands that cross their back and connect along the sides. Generally, ones in the Coastal Plain have wide bands, and those in the mountains may have very thin bands or are nearly all black, according to the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Eastern kingsnakes have a short, stout head and small beady eyes.
These nonvenomous neighbors can be an asset to your property. Not only do they eat rodents, but their resistance to pit-viper venom means they also snack on copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes (Eastern diamondback, pigmy and timber/canebrake) — five of the six venomous snake species in Georgia. The sixth is the Eastern coral snake.
Before you get any ideas about doing something other than reporting a kingsnake sighting, be aware it is illegal in Georgia to kill a nonvenomous snake (O.C.G.A. 27-1-28). The misdemeanor offense is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. It is also illegal in Georgia to keep a nonvenomous snake — corn snakes, garter snakes and the like — as a pet.
If you spot a kingsnake, Urban Kings Project would like you to call one of its biologists to let them know where and when. Their numbers are 404-556-1863 and 678-315-2020.
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