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Arizona mountain kingsnake

Lampropeltis pyromelana · Snakes · Reptiles

Arizona mountain kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana): Medium-sized snake with red, white and black bands and a flat, wide head (NDOW). Non-venomous; its red, white and black coloration mimics a coral snake (NDOW). This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Lampropeltis pyromelana
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Discontinuous from east-central Nevada and central and western Utah south to near (mostly north of) the Mogollon Rim in Arizona and New Mexico (NatureServe); in Nevada limited to east-central mountains (NDOW).
Biology

How to identify it

Medium-sized snake with red, white and black bands and a flat, wide head (NDOW). [1][2][3]

Non-venomous; its red, white and black coloration mimics a coral snake (NDOW). [1][2][3]

Compared with the coral snakes: US coral snakes have the pattern red-yellow or white-black-yellow or white-red with thin pale bands, with red and black about equal in width (CPW). [1][2][3]

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a arizona mountain kingsnake before you act. Compared with the coral snakes: US coral snakes have the pattern red-yellow or white-black-yellow or white-red with thin pale bands, with red and black about equal in width (CPW).[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Rocky, montane country often near streams or springs, also mesic lower canyons; pinyon-juniper, oak-juniper, pine-oak or pine-Douglas-fir woodland or chaparral (NatureServe; NDOW). [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mostly active by day; hides among rocks, logs and vegetation to avoid heat and predators (NDOW). [1][2][3]

Constrictor that eats lizards, frogs, snakes, small mammals and even rattlesnakes (NDOW; NatureServe). [1][2][3]

In Arizona adults and hatchlings were most often encountered in July and August (NatureServe). [1][2][3]

Females lay 3-6 eggs; inactive in cold and extreme heat (NDOW; NatureServe). [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Discontinuous from east-central Nevada and central and western Utah south to near (mostly north of) the Mogollon Rim in Arizona and New Mexico (NatureServe); in Nevada limited to east-central mountains (NDOW).

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Nevada Department of Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Nevada Department of Wildlife

  3. BIOLOGICALMilksnake

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife