Diet: What does a rat snake eat?Īs the name implies, rat snakes eat mainly rats in the home or gardens. Though these snakes kill and eat rats, their bites are not dangerous to humans. Additionally, the rat snakes in the wild are more defensive than those that are raised in captivity. The baby yellow rat snakes bite faster than the adults especially when under threat, in self-defense. The yellow rat snakes are also more aggressive during feeding periods. However, scientists believe that variations in diets could be responsible for the behavioral differences. For instance, yellow rat snakes that originate from the southern areas appear to be more aggressive than those from the northern. Though some rat snakes from certain regions are known to be a little aggressive than those from other regions, rat snakes generally are not venomous. Most times, they constitute the large snakes in built-up areas. They are usually found in barns and buildings that have been abandoned. In general, rat snakes can be found in different habitats such as hardwood forests, rocky timbered hills, swamp margins, and river floodplains. The yellow rat snake, on the other hand, dwells mostly along the coast. For instance, the Piedmont and mountainous regions of Central Georgia and South Carolina are home to the black rat snake while the Southern Georgia and areas around the Savannah River in South Carolina are the natural habitat of the gray rat snake. The habitat is a little bit influenced by the species of the rat snake. Rat snakes are widely distributed throughout all the Southeastern states and nearly all the Eastern as well as the Midwestern states up to Southern Carolina and New England. When fully grown, an adult rat snake can measure up to 3 feet to 6 feet (91cm-183cm) in length. Additionally, they have white throats and chins. Rat snakes possess black scales on their backs with shiny appearances while their underside is lighter. The bite of a rat snake looks like a small scratch which is shaped like a horseshoe. Unlike poisonous snakes, black rat snakes do not possess fangs. The pupils of their eyes are round, just like humans. They lack pits on their heads, and they have a small cap of scales with shiny appearance above the eyes (on top of the head). Rat snakes have a small head that is similar to the head of a turtle in shape. Rat snake Size, Appearance and Identification Head Shape and Pupils
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