Eastern Milk Snake:GOT VOLES MEET YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND

摘要

Stand back scream the reddish brown blotches that ring the eastern milk snake, from its blunt snout to the tip of its tapered, vibrating tail. Such Batesian mimicry, in which a harmless creature looks like one that is dangerous, holds at bay potentialpredators, including foxes, raccoons, skunks, and coyotes. The scare tactic can also terrify humans who mistake the serpent for a venomous copperhead, coral snake, or Massasauga rattlesnake.Unlike its poisonous cousins, with their triangle-shaped heads, the eastern milk snake makes a fine addition to garden ecology. And don't be fooled by the folklore that yielded its common name—this slender serpent neither drinks milk nor extracts it from mammals of any sort.The only chore it performs in a dairy is dining on a rodent-rich diet. While secretive, the 2-to-4-foot-long creature is unafraid of humans and frequently burrows near the foundations of outbuildings where mice, rats, and voles thrive. The carnivore alsoconstricts, suffocates, and swallows whole such prey as frogs, insects, earthworms, birds, and even other snakes.