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Milksnake

Lampropeltis triangulum · Snakes · Reptiles

Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum): Gray or tan body with a light Y- or V-shaped patch on the neck. Black-bordered brown or rust-red blotches down back and sides. 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 triangulum
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southern Minnesota, Michigan, southern Ontario, southern Quebec and southern Maine south to North Carolina and northern Alabama and Georgia; also Mississippi and northeastern Louisiana.
Biology

How to identify it

Gray or tan body with a light Y- or V-shaped patch on the neck. [1][2]

Black-bordered brown or rust-red blotches down back and sides. [1][2]

Typically 60-130 cm in the United States; 19-23 rows of smooth scales and a single anal plate. [1][2]

No colour difference between the sexes. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Forest edges, open woodland, prairies, rocky hillsides, small streams or marshes and farm or suburban areas; hibernates underground or in rock crevices. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Solitary and secretive; rarely seen in the open by day but often crosses roads at night; mostly nocturnal in hot weather. [1][2]

Hides under rotting logs and damp trash; hunts rodents around barns and other buildings. [1][2]

Groups only at hibernation, and may bask in groups just before and after; inactive about November-March in the north. [1][2]

Eats voles, mice, rats, birds, eggs, lizards and other snakes. [1][2]

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

Southern Minnesota, Michigan, southern Ontario, southern Quebec and southern Maine south to North Carolina and northern Alabama and Georgia; also Mississippi and northeastern Louisiana.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology