Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Rummaging through my files at work and came upon this pic of a big Texas rat I caught in Lake Charles, LA at a job site about 8 years ago. This thing went a good five to six feet long and was surprisingly mellow!!

KevinM

That's a really nice one!Thanks for sharing pic! Jeff

Wow!, and for it to be mellow really IS quite a surprise!..LOL!

Just goes to prove what I have always told people, snakes are individuals just like any other animals,...including humans. You have some that are very easy-going, and you have some real hell-raiser's. I just sold one of my little "hell-raisers" at the last Daytona Expo..LOL!!

Nice Big Boy!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thanks guys. By the way, I really like that black rat photo. I hate to admit it, but I generally refer to the Texas rats as "trash" snakes. Pretty common and not necessarily highly valued round here LOL!! Still, I have kept my share of them and they are interesting to find and observe the differences in coloration they exhibit from time to time. I wish I would have photographed more of the finds I made over the years at various job sites, etc.

Nothin' sets off a crew at work like a big ol' fired up T-rat, lol! I've found my share over the years and never get tired of them in the field. I own a pair, but just for themselves, not for sellin'!
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Todd Hughes

LOL!

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Todd Hughes

That guy is an identical twin in pattern, color and size to the one I rescued from a neighbor's yard three years ago, except his attitude is classic Texas rat -- pugnacious as can be, though he does calm down when those tongs appear dangling a thawed rat. I do admire black rats as among the most common of all snakes, able to live most anywhere, tough, durable, adaptive and handsome. Nothing wimpy about them!

thats the typical way I find them!! I was pulling four plus footers from behind stored equipment,drums and abandoned buildings at a job site in central Texas five years ago almost daily LOL!! We would find tons of sheds hanging from the piping and rafters inside the abandoned buildings on that site alot too. Their blotches were very large and VERY dark colored compared to the LA Texans, and all were NASTY tempered LOL!!! They almost looked like black rats to me, but were out of black rat range. Maybe black rat influence? This was in Temple Texas, about 60 miles or so north of Austin. I find decent orange background colored ones here in Baton Rouge. In fact, found a nice three foot subadult road cruising last spring I actually thought about keeping. Me and my buddy were actually able to get it off the road without it striking or hissing!! Pretty mellow dude!! However, most just bow up and strike like the devil LOL!!