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Black Rat Snake
Elaphe o. obsoleta
CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Squamata
SUBORDER: Serpentes
FAMILY: Colubridae
SIZE:
Up to 101 inches in length
RANGE:
North America; Statewide in Louisiana
HABITAT:
Found on roads, in swamps, wooded areas, pastures, briar patches, cultivated fields, open sandy places, houses and barns.
DIET:
Wild - Mostly rats and mice; rabbits, birds, squirrels, lizards
Zoo - MIce, rats
DESCRIPTION:
Very long snake with a uniformly black dorsum or a pattern of large dark blotches on a gray-brown or yellow brown background (all juveniles blotched); belly mottled or checkered; anal plate undivided. Often referred to as "chicken snake."
ADAPTATIONS:
Can climb trees; swims; when cornered pulls body into a tight coil and rapidly vibrates tail making a "buzz", resembling the sound made by a rattlesnake.
YOUNG:
Clutch size may range from 6 to 44 eggs.
STATUS:
Not threatened
REFERENCE:
"The Amphibians and reptiles of Louisiana," Harold A. Dundee and Douglas A. Rossman
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