Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Further down in another post Dre noticed some striping on a photo of a MD local black rat that I had posted.

I took the time to examine the snake closely today outside in the light and sure enough you can make out that the snake does have actual striping. It's two parallel faint brown stripes (one on either side of the spinal area but just above the mid-point on the side of the snake). Each stripe goes from the back of the head down to the base of the tail. The stripes vary a bit as you go down the side of the snake.. at the minimum the stripe at a given spot is 1.5 scales wide to as much as almost 3 scales wide.

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PHWyvern

Striping is normal for Yellows, Everglades and Gulf Hammocks (a morph of the Gray Rat Snake) so why would one be surprised to find a remnant of this very common trait in another one of the P. obsoleti subspecies?

Great photo, thanks for the post.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

>>Striping is normal for Yellows, Everglades and Gulf Hammocks (a morph of the Gray Rat Snake) so why would one be surprised to find a remnant of this very common trait in another one of the P. obsoleti subspecies?
>>
>>Great photo, thanks for the post.

Because I've never heard of anyone ever discussing the possiblity of black rat snakes having any kind of striping like that. I didn't even notice the striping until someone else pointed it out in the photo causing me to go back and re-examine the snake. I can see where black rats whose ranges may overlap with other subsp. to show some characteristics of other subsp. This particular snake however is from a locality no where close to the ranges of any of the other subsp. We strictly have only black rats - have to move a couple states outward before you start hitting the other types.
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PHWyvern

could this be like the stripes that a solid black cat has? I know that under the right lighting, a solid black cat can have stripes.
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phflame

The more I read this thread,the more upset I become about releasing a snake I caught 5 or 6 years ago in Ashland Va.
I was doinf some work at a customers house,before crawling under,I wishfully asked him if he had eever seen any snakes around.He replied that in his dozen or so years at the place,he had never seen a snake of anykind.An hour or so later as I was wworking on the panel box outside his house,I heard a thump.When I went to ccheck the van,I was delighted to discover a 3 1/2 or so foot long black rat that had fallen from the tree.
When I examined the snake closely,I saw two faintly reddish stripes to either side of the spine.When the man came back around I asked if he would kill the snake.After some discussion and education he told me he would be delighted to have a mouse eater around.I released the snake on the base of the tree it had fallen from and watched as it climbed up.
Imagine my surprise as this snake passed at least four other,larger skins near the top of the tree!......and the owner had never seeen a snake around there in about a dozen years

Bear

I don't have any pictures but those stripes can and do show up on normal corns also. Especially wild caught.
It seems to be a common North American "rat" snake trait.
It's prevelant on Bairds too.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

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