Usually around 18" - 30", they can grow longer than 36".
One of the most common snakes I find here, especially when night
driving. I've never had any bite me, but they do musk and wriggle
a bit. They eat lizards, rodents, sometimes other snakes, and
reptile eggs. A friend had one that ate thawed pinkies a few nights
after capture. They are found throughout most of Eddy county, usually
avoiding the mountainous area. All but one I have found looked like
the above picture. I had found a neonate that had very little red
and looked like a banded California kingsnake.