The Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) is a common snake to Vermont -- found in fields, rock piles, ledges and old wood piles.
It is characterized by its gray under-color with black-edged brown to maroon patches or saddles. It normally has a white "V" or "Y" on the top of its head and a black and white checkerboard underbelly. Its head is slender.
Milk Snakes are diurnal (out during the day) during the spring and fall. They become nocturnal (out during the night) during the hotter summer months.
They hibernate over winter. Mating occurs in the early spring. Females lay 6 to 18 eggs by the early summer. The females do not care for the eggs. The infant snakes hatch out in early August or September.
While Milk Snakes do eat small birds and other snakes, their main diet is small rodents -- making them an excellent resource for rodent control. They are constrictors -- suffocating their prey and then eating it whole.
When agitated or disturbed, Milk Snakes will coil, hiss, strike and vibrate their tails. They are therefore often confused with rattlesnakes (which unlike Milk Snakes, have "viper-shaped" heads and true rattles).
