Most people are afraid of snakes, but the milk snake is harmless (unless it bites) and it’s very fascinating. The milk snake is a vertebrate and is part of the reptile group. The light gray/tan body with dark brown spots brings a lot of confusion between a milk snake and a rattlesnake. All snakes are covered in scales and have no ears. Milk snakes use their forked tongue to smell. Its thin head has 2 big fangs and brown eyes. They can grow up to 52 inches, but usually they’re 24-36 in. They’re not nocturnal, but most of the time you see them at night. These snakes are common around houses.

When you see milk snakes in the wild and you are in the US, you have to be somewhere east of the Rocky Mountains. In Canada they can be found in south central and southeastern Ontario to southwestern Quebec. They are found all around Mexico and Central America in any non-arid area. If you go to the woods, fields, hillsides, borders of wetlands, or a house, you can find this animal. But not all the time because they hibernate.

Most of the time you’ll see milk snakes eating birds, bird eggs, frogs, fish, earthworms, slugs, insects, rodents, voles, mice, lizards, snakes, and snake eggs. When they see a predator they will spray musk into their eyes to protect themselves. They also vibrate their tail, much like a rattlesnake. Milk snakes don’t help the environment or make it worse, but it does keep the mice population low. They usually slither away from humans but sometimes they bite. Milk snakes can live to over 25 years. Like all reptiles, milk snakes are born in eggs. Their mother stays close until all of the eggs hatch.

Some facts that make the milk snake really interesting is that it uses its tongue to pick up smells and they mate in their hibernation spot before they come out. The milk snake got its name from an old folk tale that said these snakes sucked the milk out of cows until they were dry, even though they can only hold a few tablespoons of milk in their belly. Even though milk snakes are common the often get killed because it looks like a rattlesnake and sounds like a rattlesnake. Unless you want mice all over your home, stop killing these snakes!