Eastern Rat Snake Facts, Description, Diet, and Pictures
The eastern rat snake is a colubrid native to North America. It is also known by the names pilot black snake , pilot snake , black rat snake , and chicken snake . In Florida, it is called the Everglades rat snake and yellow rat snake . It is mainly nocturnal in summer and active during the day in the spring and fall.
Basic facts about Eastern Rat Snake : lifespan, distribution and habitat map, lifestyle and social behavior, mating habits, diet and nutrition, population size and status.
Eastern Rat Snake Animal Facts
Enjoy this expertly researched article on the Eastern Rat Snake , including where Eastern Rat Snake s live, what they eat & much more. Now with high-quality pictures .
Description Eastern rat snakes , formerly known as black rat snakes , are large non-venomous snakes between 3.5 and 7 feet (one and two meters) long. They have shiny black scales on their back and a light colored belly, and their throat and chin are white. The head of an eastern rat snake is wider than the neck and the rest of the body.
Eastern Ratsnake
NON-VENOMOUS Other common names Eastern Rat Snake , Rat Snake , Chicken Snake , Yellow Ratsnake , Everglades Ratsnake Basic description Most adult Eastern Ratsnakes are about 42-72 inches (106-183 cm) in total length. This species is variable in coloration, but juveniles are gray with dark blotches. In the Panhandle, juveniles and adults look alike. However, adults in the Florida peninsula can be ...
Diet In the wild, the eastern rat snake's diet consists of small vertebrates including rodents, frogs, lizards, squirrels, juvenile rabbits and opossums, birds, and bird eggs. Cosley Zoo's eastern rat snake is fed mice once a week.
Gray Ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides)
Diet The Eastern black ratsnake is a carnivorous snake that uses constriction to subdue its prey. It primarily feeds on rodents, but it will also consume other animals such as frogs, lizards, birds, and eggs. Reproduction Eastern ratsnakes can engage in courtship behaviors during the spring and early summer season, which may include observing male ratsnakes battling for dominance. Following a ...
The eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) is a common species over most of the eastern United States from Georgia to Vermont and southern Ontario, west to Illinois and Louisiana. In Massachusetts, the ratsnake is severely imperiled and unlikely to be observed except at a handful of mountainous locations in central and western Massachusetts. Ratsnakes are the longest snake native to ...
Learn about eastern ratsnakes
Eastern ratsnakes may share hibernacula with other snakes , including racers, copperheads, and timber rattlesnakes. Other than their special needs for hibernation, eastern ratsnakes live in a variety of forests, as well as in adjacent fields, thickets, and other habitats that support populations of their prey species.
