Eastern rat snake

Description

Pantherophis alleghaniensis, commonly called the eastern ratsnake, is a nonvenomous colubrid species endemic to North America. Adult snakes commonly measure 90 to 180 cm (36 to 72 in) in total length (including tail), with a few exceeding 200 cm (79 in). The longest recorded total length to date is 230 cm (90 in). Adults are shiny black dorsally, with a cream or white chin and throat. The belly has an irregular black and white checkerboard pattern, becoming uniformly slate gray towards the tail. Juveniles have dark dorsal blotches on a grayish ground color. The ventral pattern in juveniles is the same as in adults. The eyes are round with a black pupil, and particularly in juveniles but not always present in adults, a distinct white margin. The dorsal scales are weakly keeled, and are arranged in 23 to 27 rows at midbody. Males and females have the same coloration. Males have proportionally longer tails (16-19% of total body length) compared to females (14–18% of total body length). The eastern rat snake occurs in a variety of habitats. These include farmlands, hardwood forests, forested wetlands, thickets and fields adjacent to forests, isolated urban woodlots and backyards that support populations of prey species. Eastern rat snakes do especially well in early successional and edge habitats. An arboreal species, the snakes can get into human residences, where they may live in attics undetected. At the northern limits of their range, distribution appears to be restricted by the availability of suitable hibernating sites. In these climates, the snakes require southern exposures to receive maximal thermal benefit from the winter sun and to provide basking areas in early spring and late fall. Pantherophis alleghaniensis is found in the United States east of the Apalachicola River in Florida, east of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, east of the Appalachian Mountains, north to southeastern New York and western Vermont, eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, south to the Florida Keys. In the Florida Panhandle, it readily hybridizes with the gray rat snake (Pantherophis spiloides).