Mole Kingsnake

Snapshot

A secretive, often fossorial kingsnake — brownish with reddish dorsal blotches — of Georgia fields and open woods. Non-venomous; rarely seen above ground except after rains or on roads at night.

Photos

(Photos pending — see photos/mole-kingsnake/MANIFEST.md.)

Description and identification

SREL: medium kingsnake; smooth scales; light brown to gray ground with darker reddish-brown blotches; belly checkered or lightly marked. Head lightly distinct. Sometimes called L. rhombomaculata for eastern populations in older literature.

Look-alikes

Eastern milk snake / corn snake — different blotch shapes and (for corn) weakly keeled scales plus checkerboard belly. Copperhead — hourglass bands widest on the sides, heat pits, vertical pupils; mole kingsnake blotches are elliptical saddles on a smooth-scaled body. Leave uncertain snakes alone.

Range in Georgia

SREL: characteristic of the Piedmont, where it is most common; only limited Coastal Plain occurrence in the Carolinas and absent from much of the Deep South / most of Florida / high Appalachians. Do not overstate Coastal Plain presence in Georgia. Full mid-Atlantic–Southeast footprint is patchy.

Habitat preferences

Fields, cultivated lands, thickets, and forest edges — highest abundance in open areas. Secretive under cover and in burrows.

Natural history

Primarily fossorial; rarely encountered except crossing roads on warm evenings or under cover objects. Smooth-scaled; blotches may fade in older adults toward a nearly uniform look. Egg-laying kingsnake biology.

Food preferences

Small mammals, lizards, birds, and other snakes — a vertebrate-focused constrictor diet (SREL). Do not cite invertebrates as a regular adult staple without a source.

Temperament and encounters

Non-venomous and secretive. A Piedmont road-crossing on a warm night is the classic encounter — slow down; do not kill.

Conservation and legal notes

Protected in Georgia; often overlooked rather than formally rare.

In Georgia, non-venomous snakes are protected nongame wildlife. Per Georgia DNR materials summarizing O.C.G.A. §27-1-28, it is illegal (a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail) to possess or kill many nongame wildlife species, including non-venomous snakes. It is also illegal to disturb or destroy dens, holes, or homes of wildlife (O.C.G.A. §27-1-30). Report what DNR states; do not invent statutes or exceptions.

Georgia DNR’s georgiasnakes overview notes that among native snakes discussed there, only the eastern indigo and southern hognose are state-listed as threatened (indigo is also federally threatened). Roads, habitat loss, and fear-based killing still harm common species; calm ID from a distance is conservation work.

If you meet one

Give the snake room. Identify from a distance; do not handle, poke, or try to kill it. Most encounters end when people simply step back. If relocation is truly needed, Georgia DNR points residents to private wildlife-removal specialists. Local educators — including community resources around Cartersville such as Etowah Valley Exotics when appropriate — can help with distant photo ID and outreach.

This species is not venomous. A defensive bite can still be painful — clean the wound and seek medical advice if needed — but it is not a pit-viper or coral-snake emergency. Leave wild snakes alone. Never pour gasoline or chemicals into holes (illegal under Georgia wildlife den-protection rules).