Conservation Status: Protected (FWCA), Special Concern (SARA, COSEWIC)

Size: 90 cm (35”)

Defining feature(s): Eastern Milk Snakes are slender gray to tan coloured snakes with large brown to reddish brown dorsal saddles alternating with smaller lateral blotches.  The saddles have a dark black margin and the scales are smooth.  Eastern Milk Snakes have a checkerboard pattern on their ventral scales.

Other features: The head is not distinctly wider than the neck.  When agitated, Eastern Milk Snakes will flatten their heads, coil defensively and vibrate their tales on the ground.

Habitat: Milk Snakes can be found in a wide range of habitats including fields, rocky areas and farmland.  They often frequent barns and outbuildings in search of rodent prey.  Foraging occurs mostly at night during the warmer months.  This species is known to frequently include other snake species in their diet.

Reproduction: Eastern Milk Snakes breed in the spring and early summer.  Females find secluded warm and moist nesting sites in late June or early July and deposit clutches of 5-10 eggs (occasionally as many as 24).  Incubation lasts for 40 to 60 days.