Rat Snake

For the past two decades, it has been really difficult to actually define a rat snake in a proper scientific manner. The reason being, till the early 2000s, the old and the new world rat snakes are considered to belong to the same genus, elaphe. Thus the total number of species that were included in the same genus is nearly about 40 to 45 and even categorised in the same family named Colubridae. All the above species belong to the class reptilia and are of order Squamata. Thus it became impossible to provide a common rat snake scientific name but the snakes under these species have their individual scientific name. 

For instance, black snake is biologically known as Pantherophis obsoletus and eastern rat snake's scientific name is Pantherophis alleghaniensis and so on. The other members that belong to the same family as rat snakes are king snakes, vine snakes, indigo snakes and milk snakes. 

The rat snakes are an habitant of North America, Europe, Asia regions that fall in the east of the Philippines. Mostly they are dwellers in woodlands and firm buildings. They mostly hunt rodents, especially mice and rats. Sometimes they raid poultries for eggs and therefore are also referred to as chicken snakes. Some of the rat snakes also hunt birds and thus they have a keeled scale that is very rigid to help them climb trees. They are non-venomous snakes that are submissive and non-violent by nature that is why they are considered docile pets and the corn snake is one of the most popular pets among all other reptiles. 

They are egg-laying snakes. They are mostly violent and attack aggressively when they feel threatened or disturbed. They release a foul-smelling liquid discharge from their anal gland and strike with an upreared position. The picture of one of the most famous docile breeds of rat snake is the corn snake is illustrated below.

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Appearance of Different Types of Rat Snake

Rat snakes can widely vary in their appearance. There are abundant types of rat snakes of both the new and old world. According to the reptile magazine, they might have patches, blotches, solid colour or a combination of both patch and blotches over a solid coat. They are varied in their colouration from black and white, to completely black, grey, red, yellow or even greyish. According to the report of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, the rat snakes usually have shiny smooth to rough keeled scales with a slender body but a weaned shaped head and round pupil. They are mostly docile and non-venomous. Though the rat snakes have an average height ranging from 4 to 6 feet usually but some of them have an exceptional growth of 10 feet. The appearance and physical characteristics of major types of rat snake are described below:

1. Black Rat Snake: The scientific name of the black rat snake is Elaphe obsoleta or Pantherophis alleghaniensis. These are also known as eastern rat snakes of the new world as they are located vastly in North America. They are almost 6 to 8 feet long, docile and make a very good pet. According to the report of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland fisheries, their primary appearance is a black body over a white chin and a white belly. They are mostly shiny rat snakes. A slight spotted pattern is visible when their belly skin is stretched, especially after a meal. The colour of the spots varies from red, yellow, orange or white. Sometimes in some of the species of black rat snakes, the belly skin is checkered in white, yellow, grey or brown. The juveniles are blotchier than the adults and have a grey or brown skin coat.

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2. Texas Rat Snake: The scientific name of the texas rat snake is Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri or Pantherophis obsoleta. They have an average length ranging from 3 to 6 feet and are the new world rat snake species. But according to the study published by the University of Texas at the reptile diversity research centre, most Texas rat snakes grow beyond 6 feet quite often. They are mostly found in Texas and its surrounding areas. The species of central Texas are more yellowish in their appearance. The colouration also varies as they move from the eastern side to the central region of Texas. In the eastern region of texas, they are greyer white in colour and all the Texas rat snakes have a reddish-orange hue underneath their scales. They mostly have a grey head and a grey belly with splotchy patterns all over their body.

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3. Yellow Rat Snake: The scientific name of the yellow rat snake is Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata or Pantherophis alleghaniesis quadrivittata. Yellow rat snakes are the subspecies of the eastern rat snakes that grow up to a length of about 3 to 6 feet and is a new world rat snake. They are mostly bred for morphs that contain various types, namely, albino, whiteside and patternless. They are also very famous reptiles known for domestication as pets. Yellow rat snakes are the most common rat snake found mostly in the peninsula of Florida according to the study published by Cincinnati zoo. They have a general colouration of yellow and orange hue with just four stripes running down from their head to tail. The strips are narrow and they usually have an olive or yellowish-white belly with yellow irises.

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4. Red Rat Snake: The scientific name of the red rat snake is Elaphe guttatus or Pantherophis guttatus. They are also popularly known as corn rat snakes as their pattern closely resembles the kernels of the flint corn. They are one of the most demanded pets among reptiles. They are from the new world rat snake and are natives of the southeast corner of the United States. They mostly like to dwell in man-made structures. They are normally 1.5 to 3 feet long. They mostly possess yellowish-red or orange bodies with massive brownish-red colour blotches spread all over the back from head to tail. They also have a unique and distinguishable V-shaped marking between their eyes and dark marks all over their bellies.

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5. Gray Rat Snake: The scientific name of the gray rat snake is Pantherophis spoiloides or Elaphe spoiloides. They are new world snakes with an average height ranging from 3 to 6 feet. They are mostly found dwelling in the east of the Mississippi River and the west of the Appalachian mountains. Both are located in the United States. According to the study of the Ontario nature, they are the largest snake among all other species of rat snakes and can even grow up to a length of 7 feet most of the time. Gray rat snakes have larger keels as compared to black rat snakes and have very rough scales on their body. They are generally greyish in colour with dark grey or black intense blotches all over their upper body as well as in the belly area. The juveniles usually have intense marking but it slightly fades away with adulthood.

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Habitat of Various Types of Rat Snakes

They have a vast habitat and every individual species has its own dwelling sites. Thus their distribution varies with the type of rat snake species. But they are majorly found in North America, Central America to southern Canada. Some of the major species and their habitats are mentioned below.

1. Black rat snake / black rat snake: They are considered to be the largest species of rat snakes and they are widely distributed throughout New England and Southern parts of Georgia. They are also spread to the far north and far south but the population becomes lesser than the former. In the far southern part, they are found in Wisconsin and in the far northern region of Louisiana they prefer to dwell. They can well adapt to a variety of forests and grasslands but they are seen to dwell preferably in the deciduous forests that are surrounded by some dense Greenland as per the study published by Penn State University.

2. Texas Rat Snake: As the name suggests that it is found widely throughout the Texas region. But they are also found dwelling in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. They are one of the species of rat snakes that can adapt to varied habitats like forests, grasslands as well as old buildings in urban areas that are abundant for a long time. This study was published by the University of Texas situated in Arlington.

3. Yellow Rat Snakes: They are the primary dwellers that are found along the coasts of Florida, South Carolina and Georgia as per the data reported by Cincinnati Zoo. They are mostly found under shrubs and pine flatlands, in deep forests, swamps of cypress, abandoned buildings, pastures as well as citrus groves.

4. Red Rat Snakes: They are found primarily in Florida but then they are widespread throughout the southeastern parts of America. According to the report of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, these species are mostly found in urban areas, deep forests, pine flatlands and swamps of mangroves.

5. Gray Rat Snake: They are the natives of the Central United States and are widespread into a huge range starting from Indiana to Florida in the central to the west of Mississippi. They are also seen in the region of Ontario that is in the southern part of America. Grey snakes mostly spend their time in the deep of the forests and only come out in the grassy areas when it is warm enough, stated in one of the reports of Ontario Nature.  

Reproduction

Rat snakes lay eggs and thus are considered to be oviparous by nature. The fetus spends less or absolutely no time in incubation inside the uterus of the mother. They often lay a cluster of eggs once a year but under favourable conditions they may lay a cluster of eggs even twice a year. But during winter the frequency of their laying eggs reduces drastically.

The mating season of the rat snakes like all other snakes starts at the end of the spring season. The males usually attract the females by their pheromones and often engage in a fight with another male for mating the same female rat snake as reported by Penn State University. 

After the mating, it takes almost five weeks to hatch the eggs. Once five weeks are passed the female rat snake lay a clutch of 10 to 12 eggs at a time and burrow it into the pile of compost or in the hollow of the logs. However, the beetles are the biggest parasite of the eggs as they dig deep into the hidden eggs and lay its egg over them. The little beetles that hatch from the egg end up eating the snake embryo. The young rat snakes are hatched from eggs after two months and are usually born quite long about 13 inches. They are not provided with parental care and are therefore often preyed on by hawks or other snakes. The lifespan of rat snakes is still unknown.

Hunting and Diet

Rat snakes are constrictors by nature which means they squeeze their prey to death. Though there have been a lot of misconceptions around its constriction mechanism most of the snakes follow either of the two methods. One is that the snake squeezes the prey to a level where they crush or break their bones. While in the second method they squeeze the lungs of the prey to death. The second method is followed by the rat snake as it is the most effective method. Because as the lungs are squeezed, the blood circulation stops and without the blood flow in the brain the prey dies in seconds due to ischemia. 

Their primary diet includes rodents like mice, rats, chipmunks and voles. But they also feed on big frogs, birds and their eggs as a supplementary diet. According to the Marshall university study, juvenile rat snakes stick to cold-blooded prey while adults exclusively choose warm-blooded animals to feed on. Some of the rat snakes also like to eat the eggs of chickens and often intrude into poultries. They are thus known as chicken snakes. Rats sometimes quietly wait to ambush their prey and sometimes actively attack it depending on the condition and the situation. 

The rat snake even after preying on one animal hunts down the other as the scent of the dead prey is camouflaged over their body and thus the other prey cannot notice their arrival. They kill multiple preys at one time and return to the first hunt to feed. They are known to eat the entire prey as a whole and can have multiple feeds on multiple preys that they hunt down at a time.