milks in the wild

[Reticsrule]

hi i live in pennsylvania and i know this isnt the field herping forum but i figured you guys who keep milks would be able to answer my question a little better.

i was wondering where the best place to find a milk snake is. (ex: fields, woods, under things,etc.) i am really interested in finding one in the wild this summer so i was wondering if you guys knew any good places to look. i will be looking on a farm type area with lots of open fields and lots of woods. i will also probably be traveling to the mountains where there seems to be a lot more snakes than at the farm.

also are milks considered "common" in the wild?

thx

[bob2004]

Farms are excellent places to look for milks. I found many Eastern
Milks under pieces of wood. If you come across a field with tall grass, look for anything flat (old door, wood or aluminum siding),
they seem to love the heat from anything metalic. I found three Milks under one piece of aluminum once. You also want to look during the hottest times of the day, they're more likely to be hidding from the heat. Hope this helps.
Here's some pics from last summer at the cottage. We caught all these snakes around the cottage, I've never seen such a high concentration of snakes. Out of all the wild snakes we caught, only one tried to bite( a young Garter with attitude).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Photoshow/Snakes/Milks.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Photoshow/Snakes/200414.jpg

[Reticsrule]

thx for the info bob2004. ill definetly look in those places although i didnt find one snake this past year(i started in august though). i hope to get an early start this year maybe about mid april. thx again for the info. the pics didnt work for me though.

[Davey312]

I hope you don't plan on catching the milk snake to bring it into captivity? there are many milks available threw purchase that are CB and will do much better then a WC specimen that will be stressed and very unhappy.. you might not be planning on keeping it.. if not ignore this.. im just telling you incase you didnt know..

Davey

[Reticsrule]

Davey312: no im not going to keep it i just think they are cool and i wanted to find one in the wild. thx anyway though.

[Davey312]

Glad to hear it :) good luck!

Davey

[Reticsrule]

sry i double posted

[Reticsrule]

thx for the luck i will REALLY need it. im terrible at herping:( lol.

[bob2004]

Oh ya, almost forgot, if you see one of these (female)
in the wild send her to me.:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Photoshow/Snakes/100_1791.jpg

[Reticsrule]

is that an eastern milk?

and what do you mean send her to you?(i wont find one anyway so dont get your hopes up lol)

[Manitoban Herps]

Thats eastern milk in yr pic looks just like an anery corn :p

[bob2004]

Ya, your right. You must have similar ones in Manitoba?
I found many different colorations in the same area.

[CamHanna]

LOL Bob, I don't think he'll find too many of those in the Pennsylvanian wilds.;)

Manitoban Herps
Thats eastern milk in yr pic looks just like an anery corn
Yah, the one on the right looks almost fox-ish. It's an Eastern Milk, no doubt; but looks a little rat-like all the same.

[bob2004]

Found three under an old door. You can see the tail at the bottom
and the other I just missed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Photoshow/Snakes/Milk.jpg

[bob2004]

All were released of course.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Photoshow/Snakes/200419.jpg

[Reticsrule]

Originally posted by CamHanna
LOL Bob, I don't think he'll find too many of those in the Pennsylvanian wilds.;)

Are they rare in Pennsylvania or something?

[bob2004]

Tangerine Hondurans might be a little rare
in Pennsylvania, but if you catch some give me a call:D

[Reticsrule]

ooooo lol... i didnt know you were talking about hondurans. i would have to agree on that.

[fedupdon]

if the place you are hunting is yours try setting out old pices of tin cappet a few yrs back i had 40 acr that we put out carpet tin and old ply wood we took all of the rat and mice cage droping and spread @ the junk keep records of what we found over a 3 yr eriod we found 300 snakes 25 toads 145 lizards 4 box turtles
and more rats than we could count on trick was to wet the carpet
as it gets dry here