Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have had the good fortune this year to have a bumper crop of these little hatchlings on our property. Also, some variety of kingsnake, which I'll post of a photo of the next time my son finds one. This snake was found 8-27-03. In west Texas, about 46 miles west of Abilene.

I am thinking that this particular snake is a rat snake. They have a nice, docile temperment and are excellent climbers as this little guy was found halfway up our chain link fence. As much as my teenage son would like to keep them as pets I encourage him to release them as soon as he finds them. I much prefer they do their job 'ratting' in freedom as we have plenty of those, too, in our barn and I need the snakes as they are a great organic rat 'poison'!

Nice snake, I wish I had them on my property.

Looks like a Texas rat to me. I'm no expert though, it could be an Emory's ratsnake or something. Either way it's a ratsnake, and if he doesn't get hit by a car or eaten by one of those kings, he'll be more than happy to take care of your rat problem.

BTW, next time please resize your images so that they fit on the screen. 800 x 600 or 600 x 480 is usually a good size.

Sorry about the image. I didn't realize it would do that. Now I've got to find out how to resize it. Any ideas? (Windows XP "My Pictures"

I had forgotten about the Emory rat snake. I'm betting that is what it is. We have 8 acres with a spring. I try and not release the babies my son finds near each other. It is really a neat place. Everytime I water my shrubs I find a rat snake (just like the one in the photo) in the same shrub. It is about 2 feet long.

We also have this really pretty snake, about six feet long, that I think is a common kingsnake. Creamy underneath, dark, almost black with a copper diamond pattern on it's back. It will find it's way up to the house and we will carefully tote it back to the spring in our pasture (using snake catcher). It is really funny because it gripes the whole way. I guess snakes are trainable because it is coming up the house less and less. I'll post a photo of it in my cypress tree as soon as I can figure out how to resize it.

Thanks for your input! I enjoy snakes and in the past my son has owned: grey banded kingsnake, ball python, sand boas, and some garter snakes. Right now we just feel that the wild ones are happier being employed rather than sitting around in an aquarium getting fat and being stared at constantly by the two house cats. Much easier to take care of, too!

I'm jealous... I live in northern California and we have no rat snakes out here. Although I do have a black rat in my house.

We do have kings, gophers, and rattlers, but I have to go hiking in the hills outside town to find them, and they aren't too easy to find. I wish I had 8 acres of good snake habitat! There is nothing I love more than observing animals outdoors in their natural habitats. It's always cool to see a brilliantly marked animal such as a kingsnake blend in so perfectly with its surroundings.

I can't tell from your description whether or not you have a kingsnake in your yard. I think the subspecies in your area would be a desert kingsnake. They are mostly black with some yellow/cream markings on top. You could try going to the kingsnake forum and looking around there to see if you can identify the one in your hard. Another good idea would be to get a field guide to reptiles in your area. This way you could identify all kinds of stuff in your yard.

Good luck with your snakes,

Andy

The snake in your pic is indeed a young Texas Rat snake, Elaphe obsoleta lindheimerii.

The six-foot snake with a copper diamond pattern is a tough one. At six feet, it's almost certainly not a kingsnake. In fact, the only snakes in that area that reach that length would be an adult Texas Rat snake or a Bullsnake. I'm looking forward to seeing a pic.

The one that's big, fat, long, and nearly all white is also puzzling. Unless it's an albino or a leucistic specimen of something, I don't know of anything that fits that description.
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MichaelB

As soon as I figure out how to size down photos I'll post the six footer. It isn't as crisp and clear as the one posted here but I think enough to give you an idea of what it might be. Whatever it is, I think the white snake is an albino of that species as they have basically the same head shape body type.

I have found a baby snake that is creamy white bands and orange bands that we think is a kingsnake. It has the king snake head shape. Come to think of it, the big snake has more of a sculpted head.

>>We have had the good fortune this year to have a bumper crop of these little hatchlings on our property. Also, some variety of kingsnake, which I'll post of a photo of the next time my son finds one. This snake was found 8-27-03. In west Texas, about 46 miles west of Abilene.
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>>I am thinking that this particular snake is a rat snake. They have a nice, docile temperment and are excellent climbers as this little guy was found halfway up our chain link fence. As much as my teenage son would like to keep them as pets I encourage him to release them as soon as he finds them. I much prefer they do their job 'ratting' in freedom as we have plenty of those, too, in our barn and I need the snakes as they are a great organic rat 'poison'!
>>
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Chris Harrison

That is what we call a chicken snake down here in South Texas. That is just a common name for a Texas Ratsnake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheirmerii). As juveniles they look much like Emoryi but lack the 2 chevrons on the head.
Nice find--beautiful snake
John Lassiter

I always wondered what a chicken snake looked like. So, for an Emory's I look for two chevrons on the head, huh? That is good to know. We just feel so darn lucky to have these snakes around. Also, the kingsnakes. We've tried to educate our neighbor to not kill them when he finds one but to call and let one of us come and get it and bring it to our pasture. We especially try to hammer home the message that he won't see as many rattlesnakes around if he will let the kingsnakes live. (he gets rattlers a lot and we never see any)

Incidently, we have a roadrunner and a great horned owl. Who knows what their impact is on the snake population around here. I had a wild red fox near the spring but it was run over on the highway this week. I'm not sure if the fox ate snakes. (We only saw it once from afar but knew where it's burrow was and left it alone, it breaks my heart that it is gone).

AND there is this one snake I've seen periodically, that is big, fat and long and nearly all white. I always find it climbing high up in a tree. Who knows what it is.