milk snake

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milk snake

Any of various subspecies of the king snake Lampropeltis triangulum, ranging from the eastern and central United States south to Ecuador and often having red, black, and yellow or white bands. Also called house snake, milk adder.

[From the folk belief that the snakes (which are commonly seen around the barns where they hunt rodents) suck milk from cows.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

milk snake

(Animals) a nonvenomous brown-and-grey North American colubrid snake Lampropeltis doliata, related to the king snakes

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

milk′ snake`

any of numerous, usu. brightly marked king snakes of the subspecies Lampropeltis triangulum (doliata), of North America.

[1790–1800]

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Noun

milk snake - nonvenomous tan and brown king snake with an arrow-shaped occipital spot; southeastern ones have red stripes like coral snakes

checkered adder, house snake, Lampropeltis triangulum, milk adder

king snake, kingsnake - any of numerous nonvenomous North American constrictors; feed on other snakes and small mammals

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References in periodicals archive ?

Biology professor Bradley Cosentino identified the pictured snake as a non-venomous milk snake, a common snake species.

Supermarket shopper shocked by surprise snake in cart

They range from coral snakes, which are highly venomous, to the scarlet king snake and the milk snake, which are completely harmless.

Snake chase for John, 70; COUPLE RETURN HOME TO FIND THE 4ft SERPENT MAKING WAY ACROSS DRIVEWAY

It has since emerged the black, white and red milk snake is a missing pet.

Sisters' shock after seeing a snake on loose in Derrynoose

An appeal has been launched by RSPCA Cymru after the "lethargic" two-footlong milk snake was discovered near Ysgol y Foryd, Kinmel Bay, last week.

RSPCA APPEAL OVER POORLY SNAKE FOUND NEAR SCHOOL

The milk snake is thought to have been a pet which was either abandoned or had escaped.

Mum finds this slippery customer on school run

The snake species that depredated the most nests were milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) (60% of all snake depredations) and western fox snake (Elaphe vulpina) (33%); both of which are associated with grasslands.

Grassland bird productivity in warm season grass fields in Southwest Wisconsin

King snake, queen snake, milk snake, green snake, garter, water,

Garter, Copper, Water

I'd never heard of a milk snake, but if Jake's dad could put a name to the thing, I figured he knew more than I did.

What to Make of a Diminished Thing

The Pueblan milk snake, similar to the one pictured above, was found in a garden at Oak Close, Bradley, Wrexham, on Tuesday by the homeowner who contacted the RSPCA.

Cannibal milk snake in garden; NEWS IN BRIEF

2:18 a.m.: Newell Hill Road, large milk snake in the boiler room around wires.

Sterling Police Log

I took this photo of a milk snake attempting to eat another snake in our yard!

It's a snake-eat-snake world

* Herpetologist Dr Rhys Jones, of Cardiff University, with an American milk snake. Rhys is the star of a new BBC series in which he rescues exotic animals PICTURE: Peter Bolter [umlaut]