Eastern Rat Snake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis)

Created: May 30th, 2011 - 10:58 AM
Last Modified: January 21st, 2012 - 09:43 PM Entered by: John Canan
Record 2418

County: Fulton County	Time: 2011-05-29 19:10:00	Qty: 1	Age: Sub-Adult	Sex: --
Body Temperature: -----	Air Temperature: 78.00F	Ground Temperature: -----
Sky Conditions: Clear	Moon Phase: -----	Elevation: -----
Habitat: densely wooded stream	Humidity: 70%	Barometric Pressure: 29.42 mmHg

Vouchers

Comments

Posted by Jason Poston on May 30, 2011 at 03:32 PM

Ray is correct this is a juvenile rat.

Posted by Ray Shearer on May 30, 2011 at 02:23 PM

I think what you have is a juvenile Allegheny ratsnake. The two look very similar, but the milk usually has a "y" shaped mark on top of it's head and brick red saddles when young. The stripe between the eyes on the head and continuing through the eye to the jawline is a characteristic of ratsnake young. In Western PA these (as well as milk snakes)are often mistaken to be young massasauga rattlesnakes. Keep those reports coming! Can't have too many people keeping tabs on PAs snakes!!!