i live outside rochester new york in the country,new york has 13 species of snakes and black rat snakes,black racers and eastern milks are of my interest to find,,i was wondering if the black rat snakes live in my area? and where i would look,,,barns? fields? deep woods? any tips or info would be sweet
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is it possible for me to find a black rat snake in western new york?(more)
lazzyjeff1
May 28, 2003 06:31 PM
Replies (2)
Shaky
May 29, 2003 03:02 PM
Ratsnakes occur almost anywhere in their range, but to find the highest density, and therefore the most likely spot to encounter one, you have to search wher the food is.
Ratsnakes do eat lots of birds and their eggs, but it's hard to hang out in a tree waiting for a snake to slither by, SO, think "Where do the mice and rats hang out?"
Barns are good. Deserted barns, houses and silos are better. Fields are good, too, but a trafficked field with livestock usually is too busy for ratsnakes, especially during the day.
Mice like edges of things. Edges of forests where they meet fields. Edges of lawns where tall grass meets short grass. Edges of streams. Here, there be serpents, tracking, dining, digesting, ...
All this said, your best bet is none of these spots, but on or crossing a road at night in the summer. Drive back roads that are little traveled with flashlight and hi-beams ready, and look for snakes soaking up the last of the day's warmth.
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."
michaelb
May 30, 2003 10:53 AM
Oh yeah, they're probably around there or at least within a county or two. But my experience is that they're not necessarily distributed uniformally through their range in that area.
I used to live in Binghamton, which according to most reports is in Black Rat range, but in years of herping I never saw one in the wild. They may actually be more common farther north, i.e. Syracuse area and into the Adirondacks.
There's a Cortland herpetology page somewhere, possibly (probably) associated with Cornell, in which they were at one time mapping out herp populations in NY by county. I don't recall the address (maybe someone can help here), but it should show if Black Rats have been documented in Monroe County.
MichaelB
