Reptile & Amphibian Forums

any tips for hunting these common but elusive specimens?where to look...when...etc.thanks guys.

mike

I live in Western Maryland and they are very common here.
I lived in an old farmhouse on about 30 acres of land while growing up and I would constantly find them in the old barns and buildings.

The very best time to look for them, in my experience, is late March and early April. I would ALWAYS find them in and around buildings with stone foundations.

Also, the hatchlings are always out in September. You should look around for piles of fresh hatchling shed skins and look around for the babies. I have found many clutches of black snake eggs in piles of garden mulch and, oddly enough, in the walls (between the logs) of old buildings. For instance, when I was in High School, we had a house fire. When the workers were rebuilding the part of the house that was damaged they found a large "nest" of black snake eggs - and this must have been used by a number of snakes because I remember there were over a hundred eggs. I incubated them the rest of the way and then set them all loose.

Good luck - and take along some baby wipes for the inevitable muskings you are about to get..
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Peter Jolles
East Coast Colubrids
www.eastcoastcolubrids.com
peterjolles@eastcoastcolubrids.com

the best time is in the morning in rock walls or piles in the morning sun and under tin and plywood is a most and old man made shelters

Hi,

I found a huge black rat snake in Southeastern PA last July. It was coiled in a flowerbed in a public garden. Extremely gentle when I handled it, and about 6 feet long. Very glossy, clean rat for that age. A neat experience, I captured it both on video and on still camera.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
0.0.1 Eastern ribbon snake
1.1 red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
0.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
1.2 fire salamanders
1.1 scarlet kingsnakes
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
1.1 Southern ringneck snakes
0.0.2 Western hooknose snakes
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.1.1 Northern brown snakes
0.0.2 Western/ Midwestern worm snake intergrades

Try looking around barns and old abandoned houses. I even found a big ( probably the biggest I have ever found ) a few weeks ago on top of a old well pump house. He was just sitting there on top of the cement block wall catching some rays. If you could find a pile of tin near a barn I would almost say for certain there would be a black rat nearby. Try looking in the rafters as well as they can climb almost vertically. I encounter them often crossing roads while driving.

I hope this helps in your search for the black rat snake. Please keep us posted on your success and any photos would be appreciated. And remember always seek permission to herp on any land that is not your own. My wife is a nurse, but still I do not want to see you post a question on how to remove birdshot.

Good luck

I agree with the posts, you'll have the best success searching around man-made structures - especially under debris in clearings around farmland. Black rats are a bit harder to find in "natural" settings. Here is one I caught in Hocking Hills (OH) last month. It was sunning itself on the edge of a cliff. The snake was in shed and catching some rays in the afternoon, after a cool, rainy morning.

Tim

Third Eye