There's some debate as to if Everglades are even a valid subspecies. As far as producing snakes with lots of orange, that comes from selective breeding. Even if the snakes being bred were intergrades, by selectively breeding them over several generations you could emphasize traits a like color and pattern well beyond what is seen in the wild.

Hobbyists have been breeding Everglades Rats for a few decades. It's quite likely that there are "pure" lines in captivity, even if they aren't any left in the wild.

Tim

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