Description: Most adult Eastern Ratsnakes are about 42-72 inches in total length. This species is variable in coloration, but juveniles are gray with dark blotches. In the Florida Panhandle, juveniles and adults look alike. However, adults in the Florida peninsula can be yellow, orange, tan, or gray with four dark longitudinal stripes, while sometimes retaining the dark dorsal blotches found in juveniles. The tongue is mostly black. The scales are weakly keeled, and there are 25-27 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The pupil is round.
Habitat: The eastern rat snake occurs in a variety of habitats. These include farmlands, hardwood forests, forested wetlands, thickets and fields adjacent to forests, isolated urban woodlots and backyards that support populations of prey species. The eastern rat snake does especially well in early successional and edge habitats. An arboreal species, it can get into human residences, where it may live in attics undetected. At the northern limits of its range, distribution appears to be restricted by the availability of suitable hibernating sites. In these climates, it requires southern exposures to receive maximal thermal benefit from the winter sun and to provide basking areas in early spring and late fall
Range:P. alleghaniensis is found in the United States east of the Apalachicola River in Florida, east of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, east of the Appalachian Mountains, north to southeastern New York and western Vermont, eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, south to the Florida Keys. In the Florida Panhandle, it readily hybridizes with the gray rat snake (Pantherophis spiloides).
Diet: Eastern Ratsnakes commonly feed on lizards, frogs, rodents, and birds and their eggs. These snakes constrict larger prey with coils of their body, but they often swallow smaller prey alive.
Reproduction: Eastern rat snakes reach sexual maturity in their fourth year. The snakes start to breed in May and June, earlier in the South. Males approach females to initiate breeding and may combat other males before breeding. About five weeks after mating, the female lays 5 to 27 eggs in hollow standing and fallen trees, compost and mulch heaps, sawdust piles, and decomposing logs. Incubation is about two months, and eggs hatch from July through September. Hatchlings are usually just over a foot long at birth, with the distinct gray and black pattern characteristic of juveniles.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. However, better information is needed on the population impact of snake fungal disease.
Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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