Red Milk Snake Herp Photography

Discovering one of these jewels in the Missouri wilds is like finding treasure. The Red Milk Snake is a good example of Batesian Mimicry, where a harmless species has evolved to resemble a harmful or toxic species. In this case the Red Milk Snake resembles the venomous Coral Snake, which doesn’t inhabit Missouri. However, where Milk and Coral Snakes coincide, it’s easy to tell them apart. “Red touches black venom lack, Red touches yellow kill a fellow”.  Red Milk Snakes are very docile. I’ve never had one try to strike me.