Black rat snake

Description

Pantherophis obsoletus also known as the western rat snake, black rat snake, pilot black snake, or simply black snake is a non-venomous species of Colubridae found in central North America. No subspecies are currently recognized. Its color variations include the Texas ratsnake. Along with other snakes of the eastern United States, like the eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) or the eastern racer (Coluber constrictor), it is called 'black snake'. Adults of Pantherophis obsoletus can become quite large, with a reported typical total length (including tail) of 106.5–183 cm (3 ft 6 in – 6 ft 0 in). They are the largest snake found in Canada. The record total length is 256.5 cm (8 ft 5 in), making it (officially) the longest snake in North America. Unofficially, indigo snakes (Drymarchon couperi) are known to exceed them, and one wild-caught pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus), with a portion of its tail missing, measured 111 inches (2.8 m). The body mass of this rat snake can range up to 0.5 to 2.2 kg (1.1 to 4.9 lb) in adults, although most adults are on the smaller end of this scale, per herpetology research sites, with weights most commonly between 0.77 and 1 kg (1.7 and 2.2 lb). Juveniles are strongly patterned with brown blotches on a gray background (like miniature fox snakes: P. gloydi, P. ramspotti, and P. vulpinus). Darkening occurs rapidly as they grow. Adults are glossy black above with white lips, chin, and throat. Sometimes traces of the "obsolete" juvenile pattern are still discernible in the skin between the scales, especially when stretched after a heavy meal. Other common names include: black chicken snake, black coluber, chicken snake, mountain black snake, mountain pilot snake, pilot, rat snake, rusty black snake, scaly black snake, cow snake, schwartze Schlange, sleepy John, and white-throated racer. Pantherophis obsoletus is found west of the Mississippi River, from eastern and southern Iowa southward through Missouri and Arkansas to western Louisiana, westward to eastern Texas, northward through Oklahoma and eastern Kansas to southeastern Nebraska. Aside from the usual variety that is black or has patches of black on a lighter background, color variations include the Texas rat snake, a brown-to-black variant, often with tinges of orange or red, that can be found in southern Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana.