Eastern kings/Maryland

Some kings and thier habitat in Anne Arundel Co. MD.

Have you been to Calvert County looking for kings? Years ago I found some beautiful ones there that were deep blue-black with yellow bands. Really pretty animals.

I have not found eastern kings in Calvert Co. I plan to do a lot of field searching and photography there this spring. I have been down there a few times and found mostly black rats. I think I have gotten a little better at this and hope to find eastern kings , maybe a corn snake, and mole kings if they are in the area. A costal would be great.
A couple more from Anne Arundel CO.

The railroad tracks intersect with the gravel road I showed in the first group of pictures. The funny thing is the gravel road pic and the railroad pic where taken about 150-200 yards away from one another, but I find black rats and no kings along the railroad tracks and kings but no black rats along the gravel road in the pics. Explain that to me.

Hmm, I would have thought the opposite. Up in Jersey, you could commonly find kings and corns along the railroad tracks. Northern Pines would normally make egg laying burrows on the sloping sides of railroad grades as well. Evidently the kings and corns would lay their eggs in the partially rotted away railroad ties underneath the rails. Generally the kings preferred areas with water nearby, especially where a bridge was located, and the corns preferred it more higher and drier.

One thing I came to associate with eastern kings is the smell of pine trees.

Coastal milks seemed to prefer more hardwood forest areas.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Generally the kings preferred areas with water nearby

Funny you say that.The gravel road has a small lake on the far side from the railroad track about 20 yards from the road and even on the same side of the road where the kings are found.

I never had much luck finding kings when i lived in MD. Nice pics, Jason...I'm down in Calvert and St. Mary's Co. a decent bit for work,and it's a beautiful part of MD with a lot of history :*)

Thanks for sharing. Sadly most of my herp encounters have been suburban, with a screaming neighbor and shovel.... Yours have happier endings.

There are supposed to be some areas in coastal North Carolina along route 158 near Grandy that some gorgeous eastern kings with wide bands (5 scales or more) have come out of. Actually THIS is the time of year to be down there looking for them. I never got there at the right time of year myself, unfortunately.

And of course if you are in that area, you might want to head out to the Outer Banks and look for kings there. I wonder if those areas I used to find them still exist? It's been YEARS since I have been there and they were talking about putting in a golf course right in the middle of prime habitat.

Where would you go once you got there? Would you go to a state or national park? It seems like everything else is private land.

Dan