King snakes are harmless reptiles of the scientific family Colubridae and the genus Lampropeltis. Loosely translated from the Greek, Lampropeltis means "small, shiny shield" which describes the snakes' scales. The "king" name signifies this snake's tendency to eat other snakes, even venomous ones. Similarly, the king cobra is also named for its ophiophagy, which is Greek for "snake eating." There are many different species and sub-species of king snake, including the milksnake, or Lampropeltis triangulum.
The Atlantic Central American milksnake, or Lampropeltis triangulum polyzona, is red with black and pale yellow bands. This species is one of the king snakes that people commonly confuse with the dangerous coral snake because both kinds feature bands of red, black and yellow. Kings don't have red and yellow bands touching, while corals do. "Red touching yellow will hurt a fellow" is a common rhyme used to remember the difference. While all Colubridae snakes are non-venomous or mildly venomous, the coral snake is a member of the Elapidae family of deadly species that include the mamba, cobra and krait.
Central and South America as well as Ontario and Quebec in Canada are locations known to have a fairly high king snake population. There are also many king snakes throughout most of the United States. Many people who live in areas with venomous snakes try to avoid killing the non-venomous kings. Not only do kings kill rats, they consume other snakes that include dangerous types such as copperheads and rattlesnakes. The king snake also preys on lizards and birds.
Many herpetoculturists, or snake keepers, have king snakes as pets, as they're considered quite easy to care for, even for beginners. One caution is using live rodents as food; this practice is illegal in many countries since the non-aggressive, non-venomous king snake is likely to suffer from rat bites when inside a cage with the live prey. Pre-killed rodents are usually permitted for this reason and are considered a humane way of feeding the pet.
One king snake sub-species is melanistic, which means it's nearly all black because of excess pigment. There are also several albino, or lacking in pigment, types of king snake that are extremely pale shades of gray with very light yellow bands. The more common types of kings usually have at least one bright color in their bands, such as the Lampropeltis alterna, or gray-banded king snake. The alterna is found in North Mexico as well as West Texas; it has red bands along with black and gray ones. The California king snake, or Lamropeltis getula, is an exception as it's black with white bands.