# King snake verses copperhead



## 1gr8bldr (Jun 20, 2011)

I already put this on the trail camera sub forumn but thought that it might belong here as well.


----------



## Jody Hawk (Jun 20, 2011)

Them king snakes don't play!  That copperhead looked way bigger than the king snake.


----------



## Matt A (Jun 20, 2011)

What a great picture! Those kings are awesome snakes. Thanks for posting.


----------



## safebuilder (Jun 20, 2011)

neat pic...thanks for sharing


----------



## thomas gose (Jun 21, 2011)

looks like the copper head has a mouth full of the king and still lost!!


----------



## david w. (Jun 21, 2011)

GEt em kingsnake.Its a pity that people kill them also.


----------



## Lukikus2 (Jun 21, 2011)

Cool pic. I like king snakes


----------



## Dead Eye Eddy (Jun 21, 2011)

thomas gose said:


> looks like the copper head has a mouth full of the king and still lost!!



Looks like the king got bit several times.  There appears to be another fresh bite wound just above and to the right of the copperhead's head in the pic.


----------



## Lindseys Grandpa (Jun 21, 2011)

Thats the reason i have released over 10 King snakes in my backyard. I have a granddaughter who plays in yard and a lake behind house. I have not seen a poisonous snake in 10 years there.


----------



## fishingtiger (Jun 21, 2011)

Nice picture! I accidentally ran over about a 4 ft king snake on Sunday. It slithered out in the road right in front of me and I didnt have time to react. Bummer!


----------



## Greaserbilly (Jun 21, 2011)

I'm new to this - wouldn't the king snake die of copperhead venom?


----------



## Nicodemus (Jun 21, 2011)

Greaserbilly said:


> I'm new to this - wouldn't the king snake die of copperhead venom?



They`re immune to the venom.


----------



## slip (Jun 21, 2011)

Nicodemus said:


> They`re immune to the venom.



I learn somethin new every day here.


----------



## 1gr8bldr (Jun 21, 2011)

I have always heard that king snakes kill other snakes. I don't think I actually believed it. I do now


----------



## wvdawg (Jun 21, 2011)

Awesome nature action shot!  Thanks for sharing it!


----------



## LongLeggedMacDaddy (Jun 22, 2011)

Awesome pic. That looks like a really big copperhead.

 My uncle took this one last year next to his pool. He said the king snake had the copperhead half swallowed when it left.


----------



## zedex (Jun 25, 2011)

I wouldn't say kings are immune. More like they have an extreme tolerance. In my years working with snakes, I have seen many kings all poofed up from bites and some never recover.

 However, most kings die from bites not from venom, but rather the punctute wound itself-- if properly placed.


----------



## j_seph (Jul 1, 2011)

That's neat


----------



## joedublin (Jul 2, 2011)

My uncle on his North Carolina farm always kept a big king snake in the barn where the chickens nested. He would roll an egg to the snake to thank it for the protection from other posionous snakes that might come in.


----------



## redneck_billcollector (Sep 24, 2011)

I have some pics of a kingsnake working over a copperhead...Nic uploaded on for me I can't figure out how to upload photos on here....


----------



## The Crowe (Sep 24, 2011)

nice pics them king snakes are hongry


----------



## Capt Quirk (Sep 24, 2011)

And that is why you don't just go killing any old snake 

I'm not overly familiar with Copperheads, so, what is their striking pattern, and how hard do they hit?


----------



## jkk6028 (Sep 24, 2011)

cool picture


----------



## germag (Sep 24, 2011)

zedex said:


> I wouldn't say kings are immune. More like they have an extreme tolerance. In my years working with snakes, I have seen many kings all poofed up from bites and some never recover.
> 
> However, most kings die from bites not from venom, but rather the punctute wound itself-- if properly placed.



What did you do in the field of herpetology?


----------



## donald-f (Sep 24, 2011)

I wouldn't say kings are immune. More like they have an extreme tolerance. In my years working with snakes, I have seen many kings all poofed up from bites and some never recover.

However, most kings die from bites not from venom, but rather the puncture wound itself-- if properly placed.[/QUOTE]
The venom must enter the bloodstream. The bloodstream of a snake is under the skin and not throughout the body. When bitten the venom enters the body and not the bloodstream. It would have to be a very shallow bite to kill the King snake.


----------



## dawg2 (Sep 24, 2011)

Great pics.  King and Black racers will eat up some venomus snakes.


----------



## germag (Sep 24, 2011)

donald-f said:


> The venom must enter the bloodstream. The bloodstream of a snake is under the skin and not throughout the body. When bitten the venom enters the body and not the bloodstream. It would have to be a very shallow bite to kill the King snake.



That's just not the case....sorry. Snake venom is nearly always injected intramuscular, no matter what sort of animal is bitten. Most North American crotalid (pit viper) venom is predominately proteolytic enzymes and does it's work by breaking down muscle tissue, but there are also other components in the venom, such as cytotoxins which break down and kill cells, including blood vessel walls and blood cells, cardiotoxins which cause the heart to speed up and circulate the venom faster, neurotoxins which affect the central nervous system and cause respiratory failure, as well as other types of toxins. The muscles of all animals (including reptiles) are oxygenated and the method of delivery of oxygen to the muscle cells is via the bloodstream. The venom will most certainly enter the bloodstream via the small vessels that carry oxygenated blood to the muscles.

King snakes do, in fact, have a high level of resistance to snake venom and may be immune to snakes that are native to their locale. However, a Georgia king snake probably would have less resistance to a Western Diamondback or Twin Spot or something like that than it would to a cottonmouth or copperhead. In fact, a king snake from North Georgia may not exhibit a high level of immunity to a cottonmouth because cottonmouths are not native in their range.


----------



## Capt Quirk (Sep 24, 2011)

What's a twin spot?


----------



## germag (Sep 24, 2011)

Twin Spotted Rattlesnake (_Crotalus pricei_).


----------



## jeff8600 (Sep 24, 2011)

Very Cool! Mr Kingsnake will be full for a while!


----------



## Capt Quirk (Sep 24, 2011)

germag said:


> Twin Spotted Rattlesnake (_Crotalus pricei_).



Never heard of them before. Pretty snakes.


----------



## germag (Sep 24, 2011)

There's lots of little western rattlesnakes like that...some of them are pretty cool. Check out the Ridgenosed Rattlesnakes and the Banded Rock Rattlesnakes.


----------



## Capt Quirk (Sep 24, 2011)

Still, the prettiest snake I've seen, is a blue Krate.


----------



## germag (Sep 24, 2011)

A blue krait is a relatively cool snake. The kraits (_Bungaris ssp_) are relatively docile and inoffensive for the most part, but extremely venomous. They are elapids related to the cobras, sea snakes, and mambas and such. There are a couple of species that WILL bite, though...the blue krait will bit and the red-headed krait will bite. Check out the red-headed krait (_Bungaris flaviceps)_...it's a neat looking snake. I caught two of them in Thailand one trip.


----------



## Capt Quirk (Sep 25, 2011)

That is a striking snake... no pun intended. I am a bit confused though, I thought that all Kraits are sea snakes. Thanks for being here to learn me somethinhg new


----------



## germag (Sep 25, 2011)

Capt Quirk said:


> That is a striking snake... no pun intended. I am a bit confused though, I thought that all Kraits are sea snakes. Thanks for being here to learn me somethinhg new



No, there are sea kraits, but they are in a different genus from the terrestrial kraits (_Laticauda ssp._). The terrestrial kraits are in the genus _Bungaris_.  There are about 12 species, some of which (including the blue krait) are probably semi aquatic and are commonly found in rice paddies and near rivers, but they are not marine snakes. The blue krait, is a somewhat attractively marked animal, but it's just a dark gray/whitish yellow banded snake...it's not a solid blue-black snake like an eastern indigo or anything like that. I think you might be referring to the blue lipped sea krait (_Laticauda laticaudata_). That is a very pretty blue/black banded sea krait. I found a few of those diving off the coast of Thailand near Kho Samui.


----------

