I don't remember if I mentioned this when you posted this map before, but it simply is not accurate for the Tennessee area. I've caught rats all over TN, and I help curate the bulk of Tennessee's herp specimens, so I'm not just talking through my teeth here. I've seen a whole mess of TN ratsnakes!



Ratsnakes with the classic 'black rat' appearance occur throughout the Appalachian portion of TN (approximately the eastern third); however, rats closer to the OP's snake and some with classic gray ratsnake appearance can be found in the lower elevations of east TN, especially in the Ridge and Valley. Solid black snakes don't occur in Middle and West Tennessee; we have varying shades of gray, brown, and yellow snakes throughout the western two-thirds, though snakes in the Memphis area tend to be rather pale. You can find snakes like the OP's across all 400 miles from the Mississippi to the Blue Ridge (essentially the entire range of Burbrink's E. spiloides).



Also, I see no evidence of yellow ratsnake influence in southeast Tennessee; snakes there look like the gray rats elsewhere in the state. That same range extension is shown in the Peterson guide; I don't know what its basis is. As I mentioned, snakes with yellow coloration are common throughout the state; I don't think it has anything to do with the yellow rats of the Atlantic slope. Striping also occurs occasionally, but it is much less regular than in the eastern populations and is clearly derived from the typical blotched pattern.

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