Rat snakes on the move
June 19, 2010 – 9:40 am
What you never want to see in your birdhouse
Yesterday afternoon I was drawn outside by the piercing volume of a group of blue jays in the backyard. It only took a minute to find the source of their alarm. A medium sized gray rat snake was winding its way into one of the bird houses near my bog garden.
Lucky for us, nobody was home
As the blue jays swooped down en masse to attempt a group attack, the snake simply ignored their taunts to continue hunting for baby birds. Fortunately for us, the house was unoccupied.
Once the snake figured this out, it hung out for a bit, then slithered its way down the pokeweed “tree,” across the waterfall and into the pond for a casual swim.
This snake was approximately 4 feet long but they can get as big as 7-8 feet.
Rat snakes are excellent swimmers and are often found skimming the surface of black water swamp areas in search of their favorite food: rodents.
Rat snakes are very fast in the water
After its brief swim, we watched ours disappear under the house, presumably in pursuit of another meal.
Of course, many of you are probably horrified at the idea of allowing a snake to remain in the backyard but to us it’s all part of the bigger circle of life. Rat snakes take their job seriously and can eat 2-6 rats per week as well as an occasional cluster of bird eggs, baby squirrels, frogs, lizards and other small animals. The gray rat snake, also called the oak snake, is non-aggressive unless provoked and even then will see humans as predators rather than prey. As a constrictor they rarely strike. Sadly, they are losing the battle with humans as uneducated homeowners often kill every snake they see (and then pay the exterminator to set rat traps!)
Even with a full belly, this snake easily maneuvered its way down the pokeweed
Things to remember with rats snakes: where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Chances are if you see a rat snake in your yard, you have a rodent population that is drawing them.
Other fun facts:
- Rat snakes are a favorite food for hawks and owls
- Rat snakes can live 15-18 years
- Rat snakes mate in May-June and eggs hatch from July-September
- Rat snakes are excellent swimmers and climbers – in swampy woods, look up!
3 Responses to “Rat snakes on the move”
I recently learned that snakes with rounded heads are non poisonous while snakes with a “v” shaped head are poisonous. I wouldn’t mind if a rat snake took up residence under my house, it would give me peace of mind after the cat size(deceased and stinking up the house) “willard” the exterminator removed 2 years ago… but I don’t think my hubby would sleep very well at night.
By lynn on Jun 19, 2010
What’s a ‘willard’??? Jerry
By Jerry Weise on Jun 19, 2010
Willard – wasn’t that the horror movie with rats? Willard was the kid – a social misfit. I believe the rat’s name was Ben (may have been the first movie). Michael Jackson’s song Ben was the theme song for that movie which came out in the early ’70′s.
By Pat on Jun 20, 2010