Kingsnakes are some of the most popular snakes to see out in the wild while herping, and one of the most popular captive bred colubrids in the reptile hobby.
Coronado National Memorial shared a video of a Sonoran Mountain kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana) climbing a brick wall like Alex Honnold free climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan. The kingsnake is shown traversing the brick wall, sometimes surpassing complete sections on his way to the top.
The video, all of 40 seconds shows the snake crawling in between and over the bricks as he deftly maneuvers his way up the wall.
Some of the comments are both hilarious and often age the folks who watched the kingsnake do its thing.
Said Gary Alexander on the Coronado National Memorial Facebook page:
“I used to play this game on my Nokia. Graphics weren’t as good as this though.” Rafał Mołotkiewicz said: “It’s visitor center. He visited. Everything is in order.”
Carrie Johnson replied with the age old saying, “Red on yellow can kill a fellow. Red on black, you’re okay, Jack. Does this rhyme still hold true for these snakes?”
The viral video was viewed 280,000 times with 131 comments. Pretty cool for a brick wall climbing colubrid.
Kingsnakes are some of the most popular snakes to see out in the wild while herping, and one of the most popular captive bred colubrids in the reptile hobby. The genus Lampropeltis currently includes 26 species and about 45 subspecies. In addition to the Sonoran Mountain kingsnake, the genus includes the gray-banded kingsnake (alterna), prairie kingsnake, Ruthven’s kingsnake (ruthveni), California kingsnake, (Lampropeltis californiae) California mountain kingsnake (zonata) and milk snake (triangulum).
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The Sonoran Mountain kingsnake is native to Arizona and is also known as the Arizona Mountain kingsnake. It grows to about three feet in length and feeds on lizards, rodents and birds. It also feeds on other snakes.