CORAL KING SNAKE. Lampropeltis multicincta (Yarrow)

Field characters.—Of small to moderate size; total length usually under 30 inches; tail short; head rather blunt. Coloration conspicuously bright, consisting of crosswise rings or bands of black, red and yellow, each yellow band being bordered on either side by one of black. (See pl. 12a.)

Occurrence.—Resident in moderate numbers in Yosemite Valley. Reported from Smith Creek, 6 miles east of Coulterville. Inhabits chiefly shaded slopes beneath golden oaks.

The most beautiful reptile in the fauna of the Yosemite region is the Coral King Snake, which lives in and about the heaps of talus rock at the bases of the walls of Yosemite Valley, especially where shaded by golden oaks. The pattern of the reptile is composed of crosswise bands or 'zones' of black, red, and yellow. (See pl. 12a.) These vary in width on different individuals, but the sequence of the bands is the same on all. The arrangement is red, black, yellow, black, red, etc., each yellow band being bordered on either side by black. This arrangement is of little significance here in California, but in Arizona, where the Coral King Snake occurs there is also a venomous snake marked with the same colors, but with a different sequence that is useful to remember. No poisonous snake, save the Rattlesnake, occurs in the Yosemite region, so that no fear need be entertained concerning any brightly colored snake of the sort here described.

Our Coral King Snake is of quiet, sluggish behavior, so that it is likely to excite interest only by reason of its brilliant coloration. If a person happens to come upon one of these snakes while the latter is resting on the soft dust of a trail, the reptile is prone to remain motionless, with its body in a series of rounded loops. If disturbed it will glide away slowly into the cover of nearby rocks or leafy litter. If picked up, its demeanor is docile; in other words, it can be handled, according to our experience, with absolute impunity.

This quiet-appearing snake has the reputation of being highly predatory and is said to attack other reptiles, even including, according to some persons, rattlesnakes. A Coral King Snake taken by us in Yosemite Valley June 1, 1915, was found to have fed upon an adult Western Skink, the smooth-bodied lizard which lives in the same talus slopes.