Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1. It gets alot warmer quicker here during the spring than over in the eastern part of the U.S. Therefor the black snakes dont need as much melanin to "warm up" in the spring as they do over in the east.
However I find that hard to believe, as I am from southeastern MO and the black rats there get just as black as they do over on the eastern board.

2. There is a heavy influence in the black rats by the gray rats, hence the patterns are retained throughout their life.
I tend to lean towards this, and I may be totally wrong. But this is the part of the country where the black rats and the gray rats range intergrade and in my opinion supports this theory.

Either way, I really like the way the black rats retain the pattern and coloration. I have seen quite a few black rats in the past couple of years and lots of different colors. Every thing from an olive drab coloration to the browns and golds displayed by my male.

Pretty variable.

What part of KY are you from? Im in Elizabethtown.