San Diego County is an amazing place to find CA kingsnakes. The variation in color and pattern is like no other place I know of. Kings from this area can range from light brown to black. The light bands can be off white to lemon yellow. The light bands can also be very wide or thin. I don't think they get as thin here as they do in other locales. Here's a really good photo by Brendan O'Connor showing how much variation you can see in one area.
There are also cream & black banded kings that look like coastal/desert
intermediates. From what I've heard, these are more commonly found farther inland
towards the desert than along the coast.
intermediates. From what I've heard, these are more commonly found farther inland
towards the desert than along the coast.
This individual was found on Otay Mnt. White bands with cream ventrals. This is
a desert phase found in an area with Coastal Cal kings, striped and banded. I'm
not sure how common black and whites are found there, but I imagine they are
not common.
a desert phase found in an area with Coastal Cal kings, striped and banded. I'm
not sure how common black and whites are found there, but I imagine they are
not common.
Found about a mile north of Mt. Woodson near Romona CA.
This juvenile is already a medium brown, so it will probably be pretty light as an
adult.
adult.
A Cal king found swallowing a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake.
Rachel found this Cal king trying to eat another Cal king on her friend's ranch in
Eastern San Diego County.
Eastern San Diego County.
I love this shot
Some kings have no brown between the light colored scales and others do
like this one.
like this one.
A very dark brown and cream/yellow colored Coastal phase.
You know you're in SD when you flip a king like this.
A gorgeous Carlsbad king
An exceptionally nice looking banded.
An interesting individual.
Found on the side of a Bonita CA trail in early May.
A nice chocolate brown specimen found early spring 2013.
Yellow belly banded king.
A very nice Wedge-band Morph found by Bill Townsend. This morph is
characterized by having dark blotches within the light bands. Not a very
common morph.
characterized by having dark blotches within the light bands. Not a very
common morph.
A very nice Wedge-band morph.
One thing you see more often in SD than anywhere else, is the high amount of
yellow on the head.
yellow on the head.
A very nice looking Cal king Bill found crawling on the beach. You can find the
video of it here at the video section.
video of it here at the video section.
Found near Lake Hodges.
Found at Mission Trails Park.
Ever find anything under a tire? I've looked under lots and have never found a
snake. Well, Bill found one. And a nice one too.
snake. Well, Bill found one. And a nice one too.
A nice chocolate brown juvenile. This one will turn out light brown like the one
below it.
below it.
This Cal king was found eating an Alligator lizard near lake Morena.
A wedge band morph.
Another very nice banded king.
A banded king found eating a smaller striped king. Photo taken by Kevin Mattson
and provided by Kent Vansooy.
and provided by Kent Vansooy.
Carlsbad
Latest season flip I know of. July-6-2010. Late season rain involved.
Now these types of banded's are pretty interesting looking. They have a lot of
webbing in the light bands but the head patterns are not dark. Because of that,
Hubbs doesn't consider these hypermelanistic. He told me they are not common
at all. It would be very interesting in breeding one.
webbing in the light bands but the head patterns are not dark. Because of that,
Hubbs doesn't consider these hypermelanistic. He told me they are not common
at all. It would be very interesting in breeding one.
The first Long Beach hypermelanistic I've seen reported from this County.
A very nice triple flip.
A very funny picture of Kent VanSooy being bit. This is what its all about,
having fun out in the field.
having fun out in the field.
Brown and tan. Not a lot like this.
One of my favorites from Taylor Henry and Matt McCarthy. The wide stripe
behind the neck is a really cool feature.
behind the neck is a really cool feature.
A banded Mocha morph.
Under this board is a SD Gopher snake and a medium brown striper on top of a
banded mocha morph.
banded mocha morph.
A Mocha banded Morph
A very cool shot of a Mocha banded morph with a striper under the same piece
of artificial cover.
of artificial cover.
A inland banded king found near Dulzura.
A beautiful Wedge-band Morph from Carlsbad.
Another very nice Wedge-band Morph found by Brian Hubbs in 1989.
Bill with a very nice high spotted striper and a normal banded.
This one has nice wide yellow bands.
A nice head pattern on this one. Cal kings in SD are known for their head
patterns.
patterns.
An in situ shot of a very nice wide banded Coastal.
A scanned photo of Paul Lynum's first San Diego Co. banded Cal king. Pretty
good for a first.
good for a first.
Found in the Laguna Mountains at 5500 feet. What I find interesting is it looks
like a king you would find in the desert. I would have guessed kings in those
mountains had more of a coastal look.
like a king you would find in the desert. I would have guessed kings in those
mountains had more of a coastal look.
A nice chocolate brown and cream colored Cal king from the Cleveland National
Forest. What really sticks out to me is the head pattern. I've never seen one like
that and I've seen a lot.
Forest. What really sticks out to me is the head pattern. I've never seen one like
that and I've seen a lot.
An amazing looking brown and white king.
Low band count.
A nice looking Desert phase kings from the Anza Borrego area.
Found on the shoulder of a paved road at around sunset.
A gravid female found near Jacumba.
And the offspring.
A beautiful brown and white Cal king found by Rich Morgan near Jacumba CA
This Desert Phase has a low band count.
A chocolate brown and white Desert Phase.
These next two juveniles were hatched from a wild caught gravid female
from the Mt. Springs area. These are extremely wide banded for wild caught's.
from the Mt. Springs area. These are extremely wide banded for wild caught's.
Another thing really cool about SD Co. is you can find striped kingsnakes here. They range from fully striped with clean sides to broken stripes with high spotting on the sides, along with all the color variation in that County. Here's one with
clean sides and a little bit of spotting on the lower sides.
clean sides and a little bit of spotting on the lower sides.
A slightly aberrant stripe.
2 different snakes here.
From Camp Pendleton
Daniel found this striped king in his yard in early July. Lakeside CA.
One of the coolest striped kings you will see. I think these dark brown kings are
just as cool as the really light ones.
just as cool as the really light ones.
If you pay attention to head patterns, this one is pretty dark for SD Co. Almost
hypermelanistic like.
hypermelanistic like.
One of my all time favorite shots.
This one has spotting high up on the sides. These are known as "high spotted".
A nice medium brown high spotted striper.
A pair of kings flipped in early May.
An awesome picture of a high spotted striper.
Jeff found this amazing scene in the wild.
An incredibly high spotted striper from San Diego Co. This is Brian Hinds coolest
find, IMO, and by far the coolest striped king ever. To find one like this in the
wild is very rare. The medium chocolate brown really adds to the beauty of this
snake.
find, IMO, and by far the coolest striped king ever. To find one like this in the
wild is very rare. The medium chocolate brown really adds to the beauty of this
snake.
A great looking striped king. It looks a lot like the "Newport/Striped Morph" I
found quite a ways away in Riverside Co. I don't think these are very common
where Bill found it.
found quite a ways away in Riverside Co. I don't think these are very common
where Bill found it.
Now, this is a strange looking striper. I don't really know what to make of it. It
might be a morph of some kind but its hard to tell.
might be a morph of some kind but its hard to tell.
A very nice light brown high spotted striper.
Another very nice light brown striper.
Striped kings with this triple striped pattern are common in Riverside Co. and
even NW SD Co. but seen less often in other parts of SD. I believe this one is
from an area where they are rarely seen.
even NW SD Co. but seen less often in other parts of SD. I believe this one is
from an area where they are rarely seen.
This individual appeared to have just eaten another snake. Possibly a
rattlesnake.
rattlesnake.
An odd striped king found on Thanks Giving 2012. This individual has a stripe
that was trying to be wide.
that was trying to be wide.
And another with wide striping in some places.
A wide striped specimen produced from a pair of Palomar locality kings.
A very light SD striper. This is the striped version of the Mocha Banded Morph on my SD page. BTW, I made up that name because Hubbs didn't name it in the book. At this time I'm not sure if its just variation or some kind of morph that fades with age. I know a guy that breeds these, and the babies start out dark brown. Its also unknown to me if its recessive because he has a pair and only breeds them to one another. When comparing the color of this king to mine, it looks different but its not. The sun was shining on mine and this one looks pre shed in the shade.
Desert phase striper. These are a rare find. Here's what Frank Retes had to say when asked if the desert phase stripers were restricted to the Scissors crossing area: "Pure desert stripers occur in several areas. Of course, lower banner grade and San felipe creek (that crosses by scissors crossing) is amoung them. They also occur in other areas where there are drainages that go westward from the desert."
Desert phase
Aberrant patterns in striped kings are caused by the dominate baded influence. I describe that at greater length in the Genes & Morphs section. The aberrant forms are not nearly as common as the typical stripers. These patterns are highly prized by us Cal king enthusiasts and it really adds to the fun of the search. Kings with dashes like this are known as highway morphs. This one is also high spotted, which really adds to this aberrant.
This one has a really neat broken zig zag pattern to it. This could be considered
a Stripe-Band-Stripe Morph.
a Stripe-Band-Stripe Morph.
This nice looking king is mostly banded but about 1/3 is aberrant. The photo
below is the same snake.
below is the same snake.
A slightly aberrant stripe.
A very nice find. This Cal king is mostly Dashed.
Barrett lake
This striped aberrant was found roadcruising by Ray. It had recently been
hit but was still alive.
hit but was still alive.
Another San Diego striped aberrant kingsnake.
This one has bands interrupting the stripe in different spots. There's an ever
better picture of this in Hubbs book.
better picture of this in Hubbs book.
From Camp Pendleton
A mostly dotted aberrant found near Oceanside.
An awesome tri-patterned aberrant with a crazy head pattern.
A very rare find from Carlsbad. Some can be a solid wide stripe and others
like this.
like this.
Another very rare find. Most individuals with this pattern do not have it
throughout the entire body like this one. Hubbs calls this the Blotched Morph.
throughout the entire body like this one. Hubbs calls this the Blotched Morph.
A couple more Blotched Morphs Hubbs found in the early 90's. These next two
were found a year apart under the same board! The one above was found
across the street.
were found a year apart under the same board! The one above was found
across the street.
Now, here is the only other Blotched morph I know of being found in this county
since the 90's.
since the 90's.
A good example of a Stripe-Band-Stripe Morph.
Another Stripe-Band-Stripe Morph. What sticks out about this one, is the slightly
wider bands. An amazing looking aberrant. This is not a Desert Phase.
wider bands. An amazing looking aberrant. This is not a Desert Phase.
I think the barred morph is rare in San Diego Co. This is the first one I've seen.
An aberrant Desert phase Cal king from Anza Borrego.
An odd desert phase aberrant.
A rarely seen Desert phase Barred Morph.
Some dotted DOR's
This is the only Newport I know of being found in SD county. Record 250239 at H.E.R.P.