milk snaken.
/ˈmɪlk ˌsneɪk/, U.S. /ˈmɪlk ˌsneɪk/ A harmless, usually brightly marked, North American colubrid snake, Lampropeltis triangulum, which was formerly supposed to suck milk from cows.Some races are called kingsnakes.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > member of genus Ophibolus
kingsnake1709
thunder-snake1800
milk snake1826
1826 J. Maude Visit to Niagara 41 Kane killed two Garter and one Black Snake; saw Milk Snake dead on the road.
1842 J. E. Holbrook N. Amer. Herpetol. III. 69 Coluber eximius..House Snake or Milk Snake, Vulgo.
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 131 The Milk Snake, or House Snake (Coluber eximius) is common in many parts of North America, and has derived its popular names from its habit of entering houses and its fondness for milk, which some persons fancy it obtains from the cows.
1903 Amer. Naturalist 37 264 On July 5, 1902, a Milk Snake..from Michigan, in my possession, laid 15 eggs.
1953 H. S. Zim & H. M. Smith Reptiles & Amphibians iii. 98 Red King or Milk Snake..is a common eastern King Snake with red splotches bordered with black.
1991 Nature Canada 24/1 Myths about them abound:..in the case of milk snakes, they drink milk from cows!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1826