Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since I'm just about the only herper in West Virginia, I thought I'd show you guys what our black rats look like. This big guy was renting space in our old shed this summer.

Boy I hope it didn't eat any rodents that happenned to munch on that rat poison there!

I'd say he picked off any rodents before they got to the rat poison if there's even any in there. I'm pretty sure that was just an old label left from the people who owned our place before us. You can't really see it, but there was a hole in the wall that he was curled up staring at. Anytime I disturbed him he went in there, but I always found him again later just waiting by that hole. I guess that's a popular entry point for rodents where he likes to ambush them. We've found large sheds in there for a few years, so it must be a favorite haunt of his.

Nice! Do you still have him?

It's been hanging around that shed for the past few years, but I've never captured that particular one. I've found at least 4 individual adults on our property, but this one is the easiest to find since he's in that old shed so much.

That Black Rat looks like the ones that I see in S.E. Virginia. On the Black Rat Snakes that you have found, did any of them show red on their underside like in the photos that 7thGradeScience posted?

Yeah I found a subadult around 3.5 feet this fall with a pretty red/orange stomach. The larger ones I've seen have all had white/mottled bellies though.

My experiences with Black Rats in south central Va (South Hill-Kerr Lake Dam area) have always looked a lot like that one. My biggest challenge is to keep my Father in-law and his family from killing everyone they come across. I drove up into his drive last summer to find him cutting down a large bush (privette bush?) in his front yard that had been there since I've been married (10yrs). He was after a black rat snake. I rescued that one. Everyone I have taken out of his corn crib and numerous other structures have looked exactly like that one. Now that I am actually going out looking for snakes, I can't wait to hit the countless old tobacco barns and farm building around his and his neighbors farms (1600 acres). I guess spring break will be a good time for this.