rat snake: see black snake black snake, name for several snakes, not all closely related, that are black in color. In the United States the name is applied chiefly to the black racer and to the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta), both partly arboreal in their habits.
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Any of 40–55 snake species in the genus Elaphe (family Colubridae) and similar forms, found in woodlands and barnyards in North America, Europe, and Asia. Nonvenomous, they kill rats and mice by constriction, and also eat eggs and poultry. Some hunt birds in trees. These egg-laying snakes are normally slow and docile, but in self-defense they vibrate the tail, discharge a foul liquid, and strike from an upreared position. The black rat, or pilot black, snake (E. obsoleta obsoleta) of the eastern U.S. may exceed 8 ft (2.5 m).
Rat Snake
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rat snake
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Aesculapian snake (Elaphe longissima).
(credit: Anton Thau-Bavaria Verlag)
Rat Snake
(Spilotes pullatus), a snake of the family Colubridae. Length, up to 3.6 m. It has bright yellow transverse stripes on a dark blue background. Distributed from southern Mexico through Central and South America to Argentina, the rat snake inhabits humid forests, thickets, mangrove thickets, and marshes. It can swim and climb trees. It feeds on reptiles, small mammals, and birds; it often crawls into settlements and attacks baby chicks, hence its other common name, chicken snake.
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