So how can you explain the fact that I have caught black rat snakes fifteen miles west of where I live, in Marion County, SC? Come on, man. I have been herping in Eastern NC and SC for forty years, and I know what I have seen. I quote you on your thoughts about range maps in an earlier thread:

Articles published in scientific journals are generally considered to be the "official source". Field guides interpret and compile data from a variety of sources including these documents. They are general guides, and not meant to be a complete study on the animals they describe. They tend to be imprecise when it comes to fine details, especially ranges, intergrades, and transition zones.

The fact that range maps do not indicate integredation in the Carolinas should in itself discredit them unless the biologists that created them do not believe that these two species do in fact cross. I would assume that common sense would indicate where an integredation zone is located; it should straddle the area where the two species' ranges meet. I still want to hear from someone who can tell me how to identify a black x yellow integrade (assuming it was captured where it is supposed to live).

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