Posted by Alex on May 25, 2007, 12:00 pm, in reply to "Please help ID this snake" --Previous Message--
75.138.122.0
: I found this snake INSIDE my house last
: night. It was heading toward the front
: door when I found it so I just held the
: door open and it went out on its own .
: It was probably about 1 1/2-2 feet in
: length. Thanks in advance!
:
: ctapp in northern ky
:
That is a Gray Rat Snake, also called a Chicken Snake, and a few other local names. It is the same species as the Black Rat Snake -um, hold on, gotta find a book and look up the ranges - well, actually, it is more likely a baby Black Rat Snake. All Rat Snakes (Black, Yellow, Gray, Everglades, and a couple others) start out like your snake. The Gray keeps its juvenile colors, the others change as they get older. All these color forms have different ranges (one of the reasons we ask where the critter was found). Since you are in KY, it is a baby Black Rat Snake. (If you were in TN, it would be a Gray.)
All colors of Rat Snakes are harmless, and many can be approached in the field and handled if you move slowly. Any bite from them is clean, and disappears in a couple of days. Food is rats, mice, and the occasional bird or egg.
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