Sharon Black, Age 11, Of Winston Salem, N.C., for her question:

Is the king snake poisonous?

The shy and handsome king snakes are all harmless to human beings. But they are the sworn enemies of our rodent foes., and every year a large number of deadly rattlesnakes are attacked and devoured by our allies, the king snakes. The poisonous coral, snake, however, can be mistaken for a harmless king snake, and sensible people of the gulf states learn to spot the slightly different markings between a friend and a deadly enemy.

In Australia, the non poisonous snakes are outnumbered by the venomous vipers. In other countries, the non poisonous outnumber the poisonous snakes by about eight to one. In North America, we have about seven varieties of king snakes, and they range all the way from southern Canada to Mexico. None of them are poisonous snakes, and some of them seem to be immune to the venom of the deadly rattlers on which they often feed.

They are medium sized snakes from 18 to 60 inches in length. Their scaly, slender bodies are embroidered with bands and blotches, speckles and chain designs in tones of brown and white and vivid daubs of red and yellow. The three foot king snake of california is banded faith circles of black and white. This helpful fellow devours the gophers that eat the crops and garden plants.

The four foot king snake of the open fields is glistening black bedecked with a white network design. The red king snake, alias the milk snake, is adorned with bright brown blotches bordered with darker brawn. This innocent fellow visits the barn to feed on rats and mice, and he is often killed because people mistakenly think he steals milk from the cans.

All the milk snakes are constrictors. A constrictor kills its victim by coiling it within his snaky body. As the victim breathes out, the snake tightens its coils. Soon the struggling victim can take in no air at all and it suffocates.

In the warm deserts and prairies, there are king snakes that feed on rattlesnakes. They devour their victims whole, and it is said that they are not poisoned even when they are bitten by these venomous vipers. Other king snakes feed on all types of sma11er snakes; and wherever we find them, they are our allies against the rat and mouse population.

The most vivid member of the family is the 18 inch scarlet king snake. His vivid bands of color match those of the coral snakes, a poisonous cobra of the far south. The harmless king snake, however, is banded with alternate circles of black and yellow, black and red. The coral snake is banded with alternating circles of black and yellow, red and yellow.