I would consider rat snakes in the expected range with bold blotches and yellowish coloration, with or without striping, to be intergrades.

In Central Florida I have found rat snakes that are just as "greenish" or gray as those on the Carolina Coast. I have found a fair number of yellows in FL that retained their juvenile blotching into adulthood, and a few that completely lacked striping.

There may never been a good study on the relationship between yellows and blacks. All the rat snakes east of the Appalachian Mountains are now lumped together as Scotophis Alleghaniensis without any subspecies.

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