Desert Kingsnake
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 Pair of Desert Kingsnakes, Lampropeltis getula splendida
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| Lampropeltis getula splendida Baird & Girard, 1853 |
The desert kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula splendida) is a kingsnake native to Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. It is non-venomous, colored yellow and black. The desert kingsnake's diet consists of rodents, lizards, and smaller snakes, including rattlesnakes. They are docile creatures when coming face to face with humans. If they do not try to escape, often they will "play dead" by flipping over onto their backside and lying motionless. Interestingly, it has been reported that, if one flips a pretending snake back into its natural position, it will flip itself over again - thus defeating the purpose of pretending to be dead. Kingsnakes are unaggressive towards humans and are sometimes domesticated. Some, such as ranchers, that domesticate kingsnakes do so in the hopes that they will feed on other snakes that might present more of a threat.
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