Rat Snake Removal

Found in farmlands, forests, urban woodlots, backyards and sometimes home attics, rat snakes are the most commonly reported snakes in Maryland. They have:
• Shiny, scaly black skin
• A distinct, wedge-shaped head
• A belly with an irregular white and checkerboard pattern
• A white or cream chin or throat

Rat snakes in Maryland are typically 3 to 5 feet long when fully grown, although some have reached more than 8 feet in length.

Rat snakes are shy and secretive and prefer to avoid human contact. Their first line of defense against an enemy is to freeze and produce a foul-smelling musk. If that doesn’t work, they may coil and snap at an attacker, rattling their tails in dry leaves to sound like a more dangerous rattlesnake. Their bite is not poisonous and not usually dangerous, however.

Rat snakes kill their prey by constriction. Their main sources of food are rodents, frogs, lizards, birds, and eggs.

Female rat snakes lay 12-20 eggs in early spring, depositing them under leaves, inside a hole in a log or in other hidden places. Eggs hatch in two months. Young snakes are a foot long at birth and are grayish tan with black or dark brown spots. The coloration at this stage is similar to a copperhead snake. The young snakes turn black as they age.