Eastern Rat Snake

On April 10 I accompanied one of the engineers I work with to one of our project sites on a private property in the Ace Basin. As we walked on foot to one of the impoundments, an eastern rat snake, Pantherophis alleghaniensis, scurried across the dirt road.

Given the size of the individual it was assumed that it was a full-grown adult. The eastern rat snake has many different color variations and patterns but most commonly in our region is found to have a greenish tint with brown to blackish stripes running from the head to tail. I was able to identify that it was an eastern rat snake by the shape of its head and body. Eastern rat snakes have a more rounded head shape with weakly keeled scales and their body is shaped more similarly to a loaf of bread as opposed to other snakes that have a rounded body. The snake was found relatively close to an abandoned shed from where it was crossing the dirt road. Near the location of the snake was a pine forest with neighboring live oaks. On either sides of the forest runs a brackish creek as well as a freshwater pond. I was unable to identify whether or not the snake was male or female because it escaped into a nearby ditch before I could catch it.

This was my first experience finding a herp while with co-workers at one of our project sites. Using the knowledge I have learned in this class, I loved being able to identify and inform them what species it was. Given that snakes have a “stereotype” of being scary and venomous, it was frustrating to hear the engineers talk about killing the snake because “a snake is a snake”. Furthermore, I expressed my frustrations about killing harmless snakes out of fear and they assured me that in the future they would refrain from doing so unless they were in imminent danger of being attacked. I hope that by accompanying more staff members in the future that I can encourage and educate my co-workers about snake identification and prevent them from killing snakes that pose little to no threat to their safety.