Black & White Banded Snake, July 18, 2008, Houston, TX  pg. 4

This comment received on 100708 from Mauricio G., in Round Rock, Texas:

          It looks like a California King snake (Lampropeltis getulus californiae). They are popular in the pet world and come in quite a few different color variations. I had one for a while, we called him Houdini and he ended up living up to his name. It is good to see that these snakes can survive in the wild here, and that give me hope Houdini is still out there, alive. This specimen you were sent a photo of was probably a snake that escaped from captivity or was let go when the owners no longer wanted it.

        My reply: Thanks, Mauricio. Did you take any photos of Houdini that you could share with me? I'd like to post them with your comments. I had considered the California King but was not familiar enough with that fellow to follow up on it. Now you have me thinking that is the right direction to go. Got any closeups of Houdini's head, by chance? Where do you think the eye is in the enlargement I've posted on page 2?

NOTE: The California king snake has 21-25 scale rows at midbody, which would be at the upper range of the number I estimated from this specimen.

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